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Improving the facilities at Edgar Street
The future of Edgar Street is still uncertain. One of the leases has just over ten years to run and there are little signs of the Edgar Street Grid plans taking shape.
So it was refreshing to read Graham Turner's notes in Bullseye yesterday which gave an overview of his thinking.
For those who didn't see the revelent paragraphs there they are:
"You may have noticed that work on the dressing room extensions is progressing nicely. Nothing has been done to improve players facilitation for many years. The size of them may well have been fine when it was 11-a-side but now, with 5 substitutes and coaches and physio's changing in addition, they were unlikely to meet the Football League criteria, with insufficient floor space being the major problem.
"I hope that this is just the start to improving the facilities at Edgar Street, of course we are aware of some of the antiquated structures inside the ground. The toilet facilities are in desperate need of replacing, but there are a number of other problems to be considered.
"The whole of the Meadow End needs knocking down and rebuilding and will have to be done before much longer so turnstiles, toilets and catering facilities need to be in the overall developement plan. This obviously presents problems of finance and security of tenure.
"We have just over ten years left on one of our leases, in order to get Football Foundation grants we need at least a ten-year ground lease. We need, therefore, to start talking to the Council about an increase in the term of our agreement, but we have the complication of the leases being held by the Developers.
"A positive maze of difficulties, but nothing that can't be overcome providing the Council accept what a great asset we are to the City. Issues like this are not solved overnight.
"However every effort will be made to get ourselves into a position to begin at long last the work to improve saupporter facilities in the ground."
