Villa Park redevelopment

[sharkyvilla]

59 minutes ago, TheStagMan said:

I agree something needs doing with the surrounding area - it is a complete dump, also - doesn't the club own large areas of it?

Some form of hotel and facilities would be useful near the ground, when I come up for games I tend to stay overnight somewhere like the Premier Inn near the Dartmouth Circus and then walk to VP along the canal. Somewhere nice to stay really close to the ground would be good - maybe even two - one higher class hotel for corporate hospitality and a more "budget" premier inn style hotel for "normal" fans.

Now is the time to redevelop the North stand - re-open the trinity top deck and close it off, get it built whist we are not having big crowds.

Internally, some escalators up to the upper tiers would be good :-) Difficult to achieve I know, but much nicer than walking up lots of steps.

Im sure that Tony and his design crew will have some good ideas.

The Doc's plans for redevelopment were one of the things that sold him to Hollis and Randy so I suspect he has some very exciting ideas.  We just need to get promoted to make it all worth it.

[Mantis]

7 hours ago, Raver50032 said:

I'd like hot taps in the toilets that don't burn my hand off.

Couldn't agree more. Spent years waiting for hot taps in the toilets and when they finally come you literally can't put your hand under them for more than half a second without burning yourself.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

1 hour ago, sexbelowsound said:

Does it have an odour to it?

Depends which one I'm smoking but mostly yes. Never an unpleasant one. Not like the 10 year old who sits in front of me who cant stop farting.  

[CosmicVillan]

Double the length of half time so you don't have to miss the last 5 minutes of the first half to get served at the free bar in the 82 lounge 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

3 hours ago, Phumfeinz said:

The vapour you get from these e-cigarettes is full of harmful crap. It's not harmless in the slightest.

Still less harmful than cigs IMO, you have different types of eliquids as well as quality etc. having tried both, and trying my best to quit cigs! (Also no coincidence that most of the negative reviews are funded by BIG tobacco!)

[Demitri_C]

Am I mistaken that xia could re name dou Ellis stand if he wanted to? I thought the agreement was with Lerner and Ellis ?

[Davkaus]

14 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Still less harmful than cigs IMO, you have different types of eliquids as well as quality etc. having tried both, and trying my best to quit cigs! (Also no coincidence that most of the negative reviews are funded by BIG tobacco!)

Bolded the important bit.

There is no real research in to this yet.

[Enda]

The short, safe underpass beneath the Trinity to be renamed Ashley Westwood Pass.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

2 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Bolded the important bit.

There is no real research in to this yet.

Well I have terrible sinus problems, congestion etc, and when I vape more and smoke less, the improvement is 10 fold. Some of the vape liquids also have "asthma" inhaler type chemical properties in them. The higher quality eliquid are mostly vegetable/organic content, it's the cheaper stuff which may be more harmful. 

Anyway this is a debate for another thread and another day.

[OutByEaster?]

I'd like us to buy the land between the ground and the railway station, so that you can get off a train and walk down the steps off the platform into Villa Park via the impressive rear of a massive new Witton Lane stand.

I'd like the area from the back of the North stand to Witton Island redeveloped with underground parking; a new office, shop and ticket office building, a museum and properly structured landscaping right across the North Stand car park with a pre-match (outdoor) pub and German market feel.

I'd like the car park between the Holte Pub and the Holte End made level, with cars moved underneath and a fan garden area with another outdoor bar and food market on top. 

I'd like a ground that looks from the outside like some giant, dark satanic mill, like Tim Burton drew it, a Gaudi-esque masterpiece of Victorian brickwork, St Pancras station as a sporting edifice, the kind of place that has young children wondering what goes on inside, the kind of building that causes chaos on the M6 as people stare in awe, the kind of building that kids in Spain dream of visiting, that becomes the building that people associate with this city, our Eiffel Tower. From the outside, I want an ornate brick castle for a Victorian adventurer, on the inside I want a shiny explosion of light and chrome and colour and modernity. I want the spaceship from Close Encounters, crashed into the Albert Hall with a lush green pitch in the middle.

I think I may have covered off the "being ambitious enough" thing. I think about this way too often.

 

 

 

[sne]

14 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I'd like us to buy the land between the ground and the railway station, so that you can get off a train and walk down the steps off the platform into Villa Park via the impressive rear of a massive new Witton Lane stand.

I'd like the area from the back of the North stand to Witton Island redeveloped with underground parking; a new office, shop and ticket office building, a museum and properly structured landscaping right across the North Stand car park with a pre-match (outdoor) pub and German market feel.

I'd like the car park between the Holte Pub and the Holte End made level, with cars moved underneath and a fan garden area with another outdoor bar and food market on top. 

I'd like a ground that looks from the outside like some giant, dark satanic mill, like Tim Burton drew it, a Gaudi-esque masterpiece of Victorian brickwork, St Pancras station as a sporting edifice, the kind of place that has young children wondering what goes on inside, the kind of building that causes chaos on the M6 as people stare in awe, the kind of building that kids in Spain dream of visiting, that becomes the building that people associate with this city, our Eiffel Tower. From the outside, I want an ornate brick castle for a Victorian adventurer, on the inside I want a shiny explosion of light and chrome and colour and modernity. I want the spaceship from Close Encounters, crashed into the Albert Hall with a lush green pitch in the middle.

I think I may have covered off the "being ambitious enough" thing. I think about this way too often.

 

 

 

Something like this? (In claret and blue obviously)

 

 

The orcs in the picture will have to represent visiting SHA-fans.

Edited November 4, 2016 by sne

[sidcow]

10 hours ago, TrentVilla said:

 

Can we bring back the old Trinity Road stand? 

Would love this but as it's probably unrealistic so how about cladding it is something much better than it's current bland functional coverings .  If we would get the land we could replicate a Trinity style structure in front of it to make it look like the facade. Would create a lot more internal space as well doing that. 

Edited November 4, 2016 by sidcow

[TheStagMan]

37 minutes ago, Enda said:

The short, safe underpass beneath the Trinity to be renamed Ashley Westwood Pass.

Does it go sideways into Aston park?

 

[sexbelowsound]

2 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Depends which one I'm smoking but mostly yes. Never an unpleasant one. Not like the 10 year old who sits in front of me who cant stop farting.  

Hahaha. Just wondered. Completely OT.

[Avfc96]

The North Stand needs to be demolished, it's horrible. When I played at VP a few weeks back, we had to sign in at the North Stand reception and we had to go through past all the executive boxes and stuff inside and it's all so dated it's untrue. 

I'm pretty sure that only the Trinity Road/North Stand corner could be filled in, due to the road running behind the Witton. 

[OutByEaster?]

5 minutes ago, Avfc96 said:

I'm pretty sure that only the Trinity Road/North Stand corner could be filled in, due to the road running behind the Witton. 

Move the road.

 

[sidcow]

10 hours ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Having seen some of Xia's redevelopments over in China (Which are stunning) i feel we are lacking ambition thus far.

I would like to see the North Stand replaced with something befitting, corners filled in though i do love the way you can see & hear the Holte end crowd from Aston Park side as you approach, that is one of my fondest memories of being a kid and seeing the crowd as you approach so i don't know if there's a way of keeping that whilst filling the corners in or not?

I'd like to see everything in place to increase the capacity as needed if/when we go back up, to something like 55k immediately but with structure in place to add another 10k to that as & when required. This can be done i know as Burton Albion by me already have the struts in place to add another tier should they stay in the Championship for another year or two.

Most of all however....

I'd love to see  the redevelopment of the surrounding area Etihad-esque style. Aston is a dump and a blight on the stadium. The roads around and too & from the M6 need work and i'd like to see the area around the stadium leveled and Aston Park / Manor incorporated in the new themed surround. You could have a Museum yes but so much more too. A Shopping Mall, trees, benches, Art. Cafe Bars, Restaurants and maybe some sporting facilities for kids & Adults alike plus.... A proper car park maybe. Why not a Monorail link from Aston and Witton to the respective ends of the stadium? Modern Flats / houses could be built to re-house the residents who have their properties demolished (A specialty of Xia's lets not forget)

All sounds fanciful maybe but have a look at some of Xia's projects in China and it's certainly not beyond him. There is a huge housing shortage in the UK so surely the local council would be behind it if loads of new flats and houses were part of the package?

I'm of the thinking if you're gonna do it... do it right!!

This is definitely possible if he can obtain enough Chinese investment.  I have walked from the City Centre to Aston many times,  it really isn't that far. 

If you look at the huge swathes of of Eastside which are currently being developed,  pretty much the whole of Digbeth will be rebuilt in the next 10 years, without a single individual masterminding it. 

Who knows what he can achieve.  Money makes ANYTHING possible if there is enough of it. The Chinese are rumoured to be wanting to invest big in Birmingham. In all honesty when you look at the sheer scale  what they have done in China,  and Tony apparently was heavily involved in it,  redeveloping everything from Aston University to Villa Park and surrounding area would be a fairly small project for them. It's quite staggering what they have done really. 

For sure you would need to surround Villa Park with some kind of retail and leisure offering,  extend Metro out there and build a shed load of apartments. 

London is massively overheated and many investors are looking north towards Birmingham as indeed are companies who can no longer afford to operate there. 

Birmingham will be unrecognisable in a few years and like London before it,  many areas which were historically considered useless wastelands will become thriving cosmopolitan suburbs,  and it will start with those areas closest to the City Centre. 

I will be watching Tony with huge interest. This will certainly be a real acid test of his genuine or charlatan credentials. 

Edited November 4, 2016 by sidcow

[sidcow]

10 hours ago, pas5898 said:

If we are serious about making Villa a force again, we really need world class corporate hospitality (think wealthy Chinese businessman coming over for a match and seeing the current North Stand).

Couple that with filling in the gaps to appease the normal fans and we are onto a winner. 

 

 

 

 

The one thing we definitely do have is top class corporate hospitality facilities.  My old boss was a Man Ure fan and said to me more than once that he thought Villa was actually better. 

I have been to a few Matches in The Trinity for corporate and it really is good. I have more often been to The North Stand corporate and whilst it's fine for what it is definitely needs to be improved to Trinity Standards which would simply not be possible in the current stand.

EDIT Just remembered I have been in a corporate box at Old Trafford and as I recall it wasn't anything better than what we offer.  Had to pull out of an offer for a box at The Emirates when we won there so can't comment on how good they are but I can tell you I was truly pissed off when I heard the result. I let one of my colleagues have it and apparently they were nearly kicked out because they were running up and down the corridor shouting after the goal. 

Edited November 4, 2016 by sidcow

[Villarocker]

10 hours ago, blandy said:

Every time I go for a smoke at half time, I'm surrounded by people openly weeing. The smoking rooms are not toilets FFS.

 

not really I don't smoke

I thought you were taking the piss then 

[S-Platt]

Something simple to start with could be hot air blown from the roofs onto fans in the winter to keep us warm.  First experienced it at The Bernabau and then at Chelsea when in the corporate area.  It's nothing spectacular but the fans would appreciate it.