I believe there is a house built now, where the entrance road used to be. Short term thinking!

Tonery's would pay for everything, they'd make it back in a season

pinky wrote: Was there an entrance there years ago or anything? There is a cul de sac in Coole Park leading up to a blank wall. It always seemed to me as an obvious thing to add.

I thought there was still a metal gate there but maybe it's been bricked up now. Never seen entry through there in over 15 years of going to the Sportsground, and I'd say trying to get same would be our quickest route to ensuring the development doesn't go ahead.

You'd hate it if you lived in the estate!!

Would it be allowed here??

Was there an entrance there years ago or anything? There is a cul de sac in Coole Park leading up to a blank wall. It always seemed to me as an obvious thing to add.

From the looks of those computer generated yokes there's gonna be a bigger entrance and exit on the clan side than there is now.

I've always thought something through bohermore was needed at some point for capacity or health and safety reasons

Yeah, 18k was probably an exaggeration. The stands in the RDS hold about 4500 each I think but they are about 30m deep, which is more than we have available. If you assume the end terraces will hold 1000 each, then a 2500 capacity stand at each end would get you to 15k and that is probably doable.
I suspect though that there might be issues around the capacity of the site as a whole, with regard to evacuation, etc., given the number of exits.
An entrance from the Bohermore side through Coole Park would be a nice addition.

If you really wanted to increase capacity temporarily, RDS-style jobs at the end could probably bring you up around 18k, though I think that might fall foul of safety regulations.

Have they done it for Champions Cup already?
We don't have to go to 18K, 15K would fit the rule to host the game (like Scarlets vs La Rochelle 6 months ago)

Based on the pictures, 12k is about right, conservative even. Like there's about 4000 seats in the new stand. The terrace is probably a bit smaller than the current Clan Terrace, but that is more than made up for by the extra capacity on the other side.
If you really wanted to increase capacity temporarily, RDS-style jobs at the end could probably bring you up around 18k, though I think that might fall foul of safety regulations.

There could still be the possibility of extended upwards at the ends for HC QF/CC SF, I know someone has already talked of the chance the 12k capacity is a maximum with the ends at their greatest capacity, but that may not be the case, either way it's looks great, I can't wait for it to be built, let's hope though it doesn't go the way of the RDS redevelopment which was at this stage about 4 years ago, and has been setback numerous times.

Edit: One very slight disappointment from further analysis of the images is the Connacht crest is colourless on the new stand, which probably indicates that the crest is like Munster and Leinster moving to be all one colour; as it is on the jerseys this season.

Having empty stadium is not good, but I think, if technically possible, we should have pushed to 15K
If in the future, we have a home ChampionsCup QF (It could happen!), we would have to move..
It's Ok to play a huge SF in a 25K+ stadium outside the province in Limerick or Dublin, it will be very very rare,
but a QF (or sold-out Challenge Cup SF) could happen once in a while, and I'd prefer to have it home....

pinky wrote:
So maybe that is a full rebuild on the dog side, as opposed to modification of the existing structure.

No, wait, I got the magnifying glass out. The glass bit is the exact same as the existing one and there is a slightly different style of roof on the new bits. So probably the enclosure stays the same meaning they can still have race meetings during some of the construction.

Podge57 wrote: Is all weather pitch confirmed? Not a fan.

GT says so, after interview with Willie, but doesn't say if 4G or hybrid.

www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/developme...f-connacht-1.3656328

Also, a bit more detail on timing, etc.

Gerry Thornley wrote: Pending Government funding support and planning permission, the hope is that building of the new high performance centre would start next year. On foot of that being constructed, the two new stands to replace the main stand and the Clan Terrace would be built one in turn, so as to allow Connacht to continue playing in the Sportsground, albeit with a reduced capacity for a season.

So maybe that is a full rebuild on the dog side, as opposed to modification of the existing structure.

Is all weather pitch confirmed? Not a fan.

connachta wrote: What about the trainning ground beside the curent stadium... Wasn't it used on a regular basis?

The Connacht teams use it for training, as do OLBC. But with an indoor training pitch, an all-weather main pitch, and a smaller training area still visible in the renders, I don't think there'll be an issue.

BTW, the East Stand development in Sixways started May 1 2008 and was completed before the end of that year, so with a bit of help from the fixtures lads it'd be doable in an off season plus change.

What about the trainning ground beside the curent stadium... Wasn't it used on a regular basis?