23 Apr 2018
Crystal Palace edges closer to stadium revamp after council votes to approve design plan
BY Kim Megson
English Premier League football club Crystal Palace has been given the green light to build an “iconic” new Main Stand at its Selhurst Park home, after Croydon Council resolved to grant permission for the project designed to redevelop the stadium for the modern era.
Sports architects KSS are overseeing the project, with their design vision first revealed in December last year. They are working with the club to increase the capacity at the ground from 26,000 to more than 34,000, at a cost of between £75m to £100m (US$104.5m, €85.5m to US$139.5m, €114.1m).
The centrepiece of the project is the new Main Stand: a five-storey structure featuring an all-glass front – a homage to the club’s earliest days when it stood in the shadows of the original Crystal Palace exhibition hall, designed by Joseph Paxton and opened in Hyde Park in 1851.
A central vaulted arch, with the club’s famous Eagle crest, will also reference Paxton’s pioneering building, while eagle wings will flank the structure.
Also planned are new premium hospitality and entertainment spaces, including a Tunnel Club, for more than 2,500 supporters; a club museum; community areas; improved facilities for supporters with disabilities; and an expanded pitch – allowing the stadium to host UEFA tournament football.
Councillors on the planning committee voted unanimously to back the development, which received around 4,500 public expressions of support. It will now be referred to London mayor Sadiq Khan, and if he approves it planning permission will be issued and construction will begin at the end of the 2018-19 season, with likely completion in 2021.
The existing Main Stand will remain in full operational use throughout the build process.
According to the club, the redevelopment is worth more than £15m (US$21m, €17m) a year for the local economy and will create hundreds of new jobs.
Crystal Palace chair Steve Parish said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Croydon Council has backed our plans for Selhurst Park. This project will not only transform the stadium, which has been our home since 1924, but it will also have a positive impact on the south London community.
"I want to thank everyone who voiced support and those connected to the club who worked so hard over the last few months towards this very important step in the dream of a new Crystal Palace for Crystal Palace”.
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