Crystal Palace reveal £100m Selhurst Park transformation plans ushering in “new era” for the club
Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace today released plans for a massive revamp of their Selhurst Park stadium.
Costing between £75m and £100m, the club want to hike home capacity from 26,000 to more than 34,000 and wrap the ground in glass – paying homage to the historic original Crystal Palace exhibition venue.
A new stand is to be built with a capacity of 13,500, of which 10,700 will be general admission seats.
Chairman Steve Parish said the club had reviewed a number of options to ready the club for a “new era”. These included a return to the original Crystal Palace site, which he asserted “wasn’t viable”.
“While we can’t go back to it, we can build a new one,” he said.
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Plans are to be submitted to Croydon Council in January and if authorities give them the green light the club hope that work will begin in the next 12 months. Crystal Palace estimate the transformation will take up to three years to complete.
Selhurst Park’s main stand will remain in full use throughout the overhaul and the pitch size will be increased to ensure it meets European regulations – opening the door to hosting tournament football.
The amount of lucrative corporate hospitality will be increased with premium facilities – including a tunnel club like those incorporated at Manchester City and Tottenham’s new stadium – for more than 2,500 people once the work is done.
Crystal Palace will play on a bigger pitch once the work is completed (Source: Crystal Palace)
The revamp comes just days after the Mayor Sadiq Khan took control of the home of fellow Premier League strugglers West Ham.
A report into the £323m cost to prepare the ground for the Hammers blamed former Mayor Boris Johnson and revealed the state-owned landlord of the London Stadium was continuing to take multi-million pound losses after racking up huge ongoing costs.
Today, Parish added:
We need a stadium that reflects who we are, how far we have come and where we want to go – a stadium that south London can be proud of, a home worthy of our incredible support and unique atmosphere and this great Premier League we represent.
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