Villa Park redevelopment

[AntrimBlack]

25 minutes 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!!

In Xia we certainly have the man with the qualifications to do it.

[NeilS]

22 minutes 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!!

I agree, I think it will be more than a redevelopment of the North Stand if his previous developments are anything to go by. I would go as far as to say that judging by Dr X's comment it may be a whole ground rebuild, which may upset the traditionalists, or it may not depending on the plans? I do think that if we are looking to increase the capacity, then we need to look at the surrounding infrastructure at the same time to handle the increased traffic.

[Mark Albrighton]

35 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Why not a Monorail link from Aston and Witton to the respective ends of the stadium?

I have a feeling how the first redevelopment group meeting is gonna go.

 

[pas5898]

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. 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisVillan]

No filled-in corners at the Holte End, please.

[Raver50032]

2 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

At both Preston and Reading away, my group (which included youngsters) was in close proximity to vape touting fans in the seating area during the game. They seem to generate an inordinate amount of 'puff' when the 'vapist' (lol) exhales. I have no idea whether they are 'healthy' or not, but my workplace bans them the same as 'other' smoking materials. Knowing how expensive it all is for smokers and the hassles these days of where you can and cannot do it, I fully support anybody in their quest to quit actual smoking and lead a healthier, potentially longer life.

I hate it when people near me drop gas in their pants too...

[villa4europe]

2 hours ago, danceoftheshamen said:

lopment 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)

thats what i think he means when he says theme(d) park

create something that villa fans and non villa fans can use 7 days a week, almost definitely a hotel to push the use of the corporate facilities, tie in to resorts world in some shape or form (i think the deal we've done for them wont purely be marketing)

kill off star city

as for the ground itself, new north stand is an obvious must, more corporate, safe standing, WiFi, better lions facilities

hopefully a lot like wembley the decent flats and office development etc will come from others once we've done our bit

the problem with all of it is that with the trading estate development and HS2 coming soon the local area isnt developing in a way that could be conducive to how we would probably want it to develop, its going to get more industrial

[mjmooney]

1 hour ago, Raver50032 said:

 

I hate it when people near me drop gas in their pants too...

Perhaps we should have a safe farting area. 

[rodders0223]

28 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Wifi

Steady on. What step at a time eh?

[Dante_Lockhart]

1 hour ago, Raver50032 said:

At both Preston and Reading away, my group (which included youngsters) was in close proximity to vape touting fans in the seating area during the game. They seem to generate an inordinate amount of 'puff' when the 'vapist' (lol) exhales. I have no idea whether they are 'healthy' or not, but my workplace bans them the same as 'other' smoking materials. Knowing how expensive it all is for smokers and the hassles these days of where you can and cannot do it, I fully support anybody in their quest to quit actual smoking and lead a healthier, potentially longer life.

I hate it when people near me drop gas in their pants too...

Isn't vaping just that? Water vapor? Like the steam from a kettle? Or am I completely wrong?

[wilko154]

Two ways of looking at this, first is should we start the redevelopment of the North Stand this season whilst we are outside the top flight, then by the time we are back we have a higher capacity for our push for Champions League football (I know...)

Or do we concentrate on getting out of the Championship and worry about redevelopments when we need them...

The one addition I think would be brilliant at Villa Park is a few of the pop up bars outside the ground that the majority of other grounds have. Additions like this give fans a reason to get to the ground earlier, and creates a much better atmosphere by kick off.

[Richard]

could we have this please

[dont_do_it_doug.]

1 hour ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

Isn't vaping just that? Water vapor? Like the steam from a kettle? Or am I completely wrong?

Exactly that. 

I'm confident you're not 'allowed' to vape in the stands already, but as it is completely harmless the stewards generally turn a blind eye. 

I vape in the stand, but I have given those around me the courtesy of asking first. I also sit on the back row so it's not so much of an issue. 

[sexbelowsound]

10 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Exactly that. 

I'm confident you're not 'allowed' to vape in the stands already, but as it is completely harmless the stewards generally turn a blind eye. 

I vape in the stand, but I have given those around me the courtesy of asking first. I also sit on the back row so it's not so much of an issue. 

Does it have an odour to it?

Edited November 4, 2016 by sexbelowsound

[Phumfeinz]

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

[TheStagMan]

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.

[Grasshopper]

We desperately need an "Auto-Tilt function" for the entire pitch.

when the opposition has the ball the pitch should "tilt" uphill for them & vice versa downhill for us

[NeilS]

13 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

We desperately need an "Auto-Tilt function" for the entire pitch.

when the opposition has the ball the pitch should "tilt" uphill for them & vice versa downhill for us

Plus giant fans (I don't mean fat blokes) behind the goals, which create a gust every time the opposition gets into our half blowing the ball away from goal.

[jim]

32 minutes ago, Phumfeinz said:

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

Poppycock

Edited November 4, 2016 by jim

[TheStagMan]

17 minutes ago, Grasshopper said:

We desperately need an "Auto-Tilt function" for the entire pitch.

when the opposition has the ball the pitch should "tilt" uphill for them & vice versa downhill for us

too complicated. It just needs to tilt downhill in the direction we are playing. Only three movements required. Once at the start, switch at half time and then re-level at the end of the game.

 

1 minute ago, NeilS said:

Plus giant fans (I don't mean fat blokes) behind the goals, which create a gust every time the opposition gets into our half blowing the ball away from goal.

I assume that it is against the rules to fit a large sheet of plexiglass across our goalmouth?

Edited November 4, 2016 by TheStagMan