thomond park redevelopment

[vkid]

Sorry but GAA has always been the poor relation to rugby in Limerick City...be it in schools, clubs, etc..nothing to do with recent Heineken Cup games or that Magners thing...Most recent Magners games have been played in Cork.

The city GAA clubs are not as strong, I think it would be the opposite in the county

[kefu]

Success and novelty can be very fleeting things. Simple fact is Limerick is going to have two large stadiums, and there's every chance neither of them will sell out regularly.

[vkid]

Obviously a Leinster supporter...
Limerick rugby has never been solely about Munster..

[CologneMike]

Shannon RFC has a planning application 08157 for new facilities at Thomond Park.

Planning Permission to demolish existing pavilion within the grounds of Thomond Park and to construct a proposed pavilion facility to include sports hall, gymnasium, sports injury clinic, changing and shower room areas and reception rooms with bar amenities and associated site works.

Below an image of UL Bohemians club house (work-in-progress).

[CologneMike]

Looking at this aerial shot from April, I wonder what plans are for the terraces behind each of the goalposts. Are they to be upgraded as part of the redevelopment too?

See also images from munsterrugby.ie April June

[Tuborg]

Two quick points:
1/ Why would anyone bother turning the Gaelic Grounds into a 40k-all seater stadium when clearly there is no demand for such a facility. As has been said, there are insufficient important matches in Munster to require three very large stadiums: Thurles, Cork & Limerick.
2/ GAA stadiums are always going to be more inclined towards uncovered stands/terraces because it is a Summer sport. A roof is expensive, as was seen at Croke Park, where the roof does not cover the first twenty odd rows in the stands because of the price of overhanging that far. Logic for this would obviously include the fact that all important matches take place from May to September.

If we were to use your logic, why not just give fans a couple of grassy banks to stand on? Sure tis a summer sport, they'll be grand! If you go to the bother of building a new stadium, why not build a half decent one while you're at it. "Summer" is a bit of an irrelevant term in Ireland, it dosent exactly mean much, which is why I cant understand the fascination with wide open stands. Obviously there are too many over capacity stadiums around the country at the moment and the way to go is to develop smaller, more manageable stadiums with better facilities.

The Gaelic Grounds current capacity is 49,000 so replacing most of the terracing with seats would bring the capacity down to below 40k which is a much more suitable number. Obviously I was indulging in a bit of fantasy when talking about the Gaelic Grounds, the stadium is never going to be fully covered but it would definitely make sense in the long term to erect a roof over the current open stand as this is where the majority of spectators prefer to sit because of the far superior sightlines compared to the Mackey stand.

Of course in an ideal world, Limerick and Munster would share the same stadium but thats a discussion for another day!

Possibly one of the worst locations for a stadium ever. If they had any real vision for the place they would have moved it to a green field site and made a fortune on the site. I think GAA is always going to be the poor relation of rugby in Limerick city though.

I really dont think theres a whole pile wrong with the location, its not that different from Thomond Park, although the Ennis Road is slightly busier. The real problem is that common Irish disease where everyone wants to get there by car, despite the fact its only a mere 20 minute walk from the city centre.

The idea of a souless stadium built beside a retail park in the middle of no where with parking for 50,00 cars just dosent appeal to me at all. These type of grounds create absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever, everyone arrives by car, watches the match and goes home. Championship games or heineken cup games are all about savouring the atmosphere in the city, having a few pints and then heading to the game. You just dont get that with out of town grounds.

[Goofy]

Looking at this aerial shot from April, I wonder what plans are for the terraces behind each of the goalposts. Are they to be upgraded as part of the redevelopment too?

As far as i know the plan is the leave the terraces as they are.
They got planning permission to fill in the corners and make it 29000 capacity but they decided that 26000 was big enough so the corners were shelved.

[CologneMike]

UL Punch Lecture 2008 (Limerick Post)

Spirit and Substance: The New Thomond Park Stadium

Engineers Ireland / Michael Punch & Partners

Tuesday September 23rd

UL Concert Hall (7.30pm)

[PaulC]

Has anyone got up to date photos of Thomond Park?
Thanks

[demolition man]

Try this link.
http://www.munsterfans.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3919&PN=1&TPN=51

I tried to upload the pictures but couldn't due to their size.

Seems that they're startin to install the different coloured seating on the west stand.Has anybody heard or seen what the new Shannon clubhouse will look like? Will be interesting to see how it will integrate/or not with the new west stand.

[PaulC]

Thank you DemolitionMan - it looks fantastic I have to say. 2 weeks to first game there I believe.

[Bock the Robber]

Bruff RFC have a comprehensive set of pics HERE.

[Peter Fitz]

As far as i know the plan is the leave the terraces as they are.
They got planning permission to fill in the corners and make it 29000 capacity but they decided that 26000 was big enough so the corners were shelved.

Really hope they complete the terraces to blend with the lower tier of the new stands, they won't have a problem filling the place & surely it cant cost that much in the overall context.

Looking at the shot, the scope of the existing terraces had a significant impact on the design of the stands, it would be crazy to abandon that now & leave us with four disjointed stand alone structures.

[PaulC]

[ATTACH]8363[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]8364[/ATTACH]Latest pics of Thomond Park

[PVC King]

If Munster beat the All Blacks this time will 100,000 claim to have been there?

Great vision on this which I'd love to confirm if only I had a ticket!!!!

[Paul Clerkin]

Some video
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1117/nationwide_av.html?2450340,null,228

[Peter Fitz]

ok overall it looks great, but what is the story with the mottled seating ? and obviously as i said before like, they really need to redevelop the terraces to connect with the stands as originally planned.

[Tuborg]

What exactly is wrong with the multi coloured seats? They can be found in many stadiums throughout Europe. Christ, talk about knit picking!:rolleyes:

[Peter Fitz]

not something i would have done thats all i'm saying ! the way it has to change to solid red so that 'munster' is legible doesn't help.

[Paul Clerkin]

The mottled seating is nice, its the lettering thats clumsily done.

[Tuborg]

I really dont see an issue with them to be honest!

Paul Clerkin's correct, the "Munster" lettering just dosent look right!

[Peter Fitz]

its the variation from mottled to solid colour, the point being it doesn't work, & yes i know a small issue in the context of a successful redevelopment.

[vkid]

i think the logic behind the seating is that when the stadium is less than full it is supposed to mask that a little..an ieda robbed from other stadiums. Looking directly from the West stand to the east stand at the Canada game, i didnt think it really did that but personally after last night, i couldnt care less what colour the seats are. Its a magnificent venue imo. The new stands are a pleasure to be in for a game.

[CologneMike]

Shannon RFU Pavilion

(08211) Permission granted 17th February 2009

Demolish existing pavilion within the grounds of Thomond Park and to construct a proposed pavilion facility to include sports hall, gymnasium, sports injury treatment area, changing and shower room areas and reception rooms with bar amenities and associated site works.

[NevilleNeville]

What a mess!