Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium

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Proposed Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium
LocationBramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool
Coordinates53°25′30″N 3°00′10″W / 53.4251°N 3.0028°W / 53.4251; -3.0028Coordinates: 53°25′30″N 3°00′10″W / 53.4251°N 3.0028°W / 53.4251; -3.0028
OwnerEverton
OperatorEverton
Capacity52,888
Construction
Broke ground10 August 2021 (2021-08-10)
Construction costEstimated around £500 million
ArchitectMEIS Architects
Pattern Architects
BuilderLaing O’Rourke
Structural engineerBuro Happold
Tenants
Everton (from 2024 or 2025)
Website
www.peoples-project.co.uk

Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium is a proposed football stadium for Everton F.C. on Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall, Liverpool, England. The stadium is due to open for the start of the 2024-25 Premier League season, replacing Goodison Park.

Bramley-Moore Dock was within the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a number of heritage assets that are at risk or in disrepair, which Everton F.C. claims will be repaired and maintained.[1] However in July 2021, the project was cited as one of a number of reasons for the revocation of Liverpool's World Heritage status.[2]

Bramley-Moore is a former commercial dock that sits behind locked gates next to a wastewater treatment plant,[3] and it is intended that the new stadium will become the heart of a new mixed-use development in the area containing shops, housing and other venues.

Planning[]

Everton's search for a new stadium has been a pressing concern since at least the 1990s. Their current home, Goodison Park has had several renovations, but ultimately is constrained by its methods of construction and the area it is in. In 2007, then-chairman Keith Wyness revealed that the club had spent £500,000 on repairs just to keep the steelwork of the ground up to standard, and that within ten years there was a serious possibility it may not pass safety inspections.[4] The Taylor Report in 1990 required that all stadia in the Football League in Britain become all-seater, which severely curtailed Goodison Park's capacity, from a high of 78,299 to an all-seater capacity of 40,100, and then further to its current capacity of 39,414.[5] This lags behind nearby Anfield which has plans to expand to 62,000, but still being much lower capacity than Old Trafford and various other stadia.[6]

After a mooted move to Kirkby met with widespread opposition from fans and politicians, in March 2017 it became known that Everton had chosen Bramley-Moore Dock as a suitable venue for its new stadium, which was planned to cost around £300m. This was contingent on setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle with Liverpool council, who would act as guarantors for the hundreds of millions in commercial loans the club planned to use to finance the construction.[7]

In November 2017, the club agreed to a lease with Peel Holdings lasting 200 years, and in 2018 revealed its plans for a 52,000 seat stadium, which could be expanded to 62,000 in the future, demand permitting. They also began a public consultation process, which ended in February 2019 with public response showing 94% were in favour of the project going ahead.[8]

However, in 2020 Historic England, the Victorian Society and the International Council on Monuments and Sites voiced opposition to the plans, saying that Bramley-Moore Dock was still in use, had other potential uses relating to the world heritage state agreement and that Liverpool does not face "a stark choice between dereliction or football stadium."[9]

Despite this opposition, Liverpool Council voted to approve planning permission. Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government chose not to 'call-in' the application, and thus approved it.[10]

Funding[]

On 23 March 2017, it was announced that a deal had been agreed between Liverpool City Council, Everton F.C., and Peel Holdings to acquire the dock for a new football stadium.[11]

On 31 March 2017, Liverpool City Council voted in favour of creating a Special Purpose Vehicle company. The company was proposed with securing the funds for the stadium. The lenders would acquire a 200-year head-lease of the land from Peel, the landowners, and leasing the stadium to the SPV, which would in turn sub-lease to Everton for 40 years.[12][13]

The current funding model now proposed before Liverpool City Council (revealed at Everton's AGM on 9 January 2018) [14] would be an arrangement that will see the council borrow £280m at ultra-low interest rates from the government, and then pass that loan on to the club at a profit to the city of around £7m a year over 25 years.[15][16] Costs for the new stadium now escalating to an estimated £500m,[17] would mean the club would still require to find the remaining £220m. As of June 2018 the council funding still not in place doubts were raised by Mayor Anderson if this funding model would be agreed.[18]

In July 2019, it was reported that the Club had options to fund the development from both the private and public sectors, which could include selling naming rights to a sponsor.[19]

In January 2020, it was announced that Everton have agreed a naming right deal worth £30 million with USM who already sponsors Everton's training ground, Finch Farm.[20]

The club further announced that it would enlist the help of major international banks JP Morgan and MUFG to help secure finance for the new stadium.[21]

As of 2021, there has been no further update on the funding of the stadium, although the club announced after receiving planning permission that they hoped to start work soon.

Proposed features[]

The proposed stadium is planned to be located behind this hydraulic tower at Bramley-Moore Dock. The tower will be kept as a feature.

Everton's proposed new stadium is a bowl design with a proposed capacity of 52,000 and constructed of steel and glass, with the current dock being filled with reclaimed sand from the River Mersey.[22]

Similar to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium it is intended that there will be 13,000 seater stand which is reportedly inspired by the Yellow Wall at Westfalenstadion, the stadium of Borussia Dortmund.[23]

Loss of UNESCO World Heritage Status[]

The proposed stadium has met with opposition from several heritage bodies, including UNESCO, who said the development could lead to Liverpool losing its World Heritage Site status. In 2019, the chair of the city's World Heritage Site steering group has said he believes the stadium will "up the ante for the city" and "There is to a degree an incompatibility between the Unesco rule book and the protection and management of Liverpool World Heritage Site, versus the need to deliver economic growth, regeneration, social inclusion and inclusive growth, which is very very important."[24]

In 2021, UNESCO recommended that the City lose its status, with the development at Bramley-Moore Dock being one of the reasons, along with the longstanding development of the waterfront and the wider Liverpool Waters project.[25] The heritage body said the stadium "would have a completely unacceptable major adverse impact on the authenticity, integrity and outstanding universal value of the World Heritage Site."[26]

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram opposed the decision and said, "We are proud of our history but our heritage is a vital part of our regeneration. I'd urge them to take up our invitation to visit rather than taking their decision sat around a table on the other side of the world."[27] The revocation of the world heritage site status was confirmed in July 2021.[28]

References[]

  1. ^ Association, Press. "Council planning report recommends approval of Everton's proposed new stadium". BT.com. BT. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Liverpool stripped of Unesco World Heritage status". BBC News. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Can stadiums still serve the public good in this new footballing age?". The Independent. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Wyness: Why our out of date Goodison will only get worse". Liverpool Echo. Reach plc. 17 July 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Know Your History: Goodison's Record Attendance".
  6. ^ Inglis, Simon. The Football Grounds Of Great Britain. HarperCollins.
  7. ^ Hunter, Andy (23 March 2017). "Everton seek £300m to build stadium on Mersey site at Bramley Moore dock". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  8. ^ Beesley, Chris. "Everton's new stadium timeline as work on Bramley-Moore Dock can now begin". Liverpool Echo. Reach plc. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. ^ Hunter, Andy (15 September 2020). "Historic England under fire over new Everton stadium objections". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Bramley-Moore Dock: Everton cleared to build new £500m stadium". BBC News. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Everton agree deal for new stadium site". BBC News. 23 March 2017.
  12. ^ Hunter, Andy (23 March 2017). "Everton seek £300m to build stadium on Mersey site at Bramley Moore dock". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  13. ^ Hunter, Andy (31 March 2017). "Everton's plans for £300m new stadium approved by Liverpool City Council". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  14. ^ Houghton, Alistair (10 January 2018). "Liverpool council WILL loan Everton millions for new stadium, mayor says".
  15. ^ "Financing Everton's New Stadium". toffeeweb.com.
  16. ^ Prentice, David (2 February 2018). "The TRUTH behind the funding Everton FC's new stadium".
  17. ^ Hunter, Andy (31 December 2017). "Everton's new stadium costs 'escalate significantly' with 2022 target now set". The Guardian.
  18. ^ "Joe Anderson casts doubt on LCC funding for new stadium". toffeeweb.com.
  19. ^ "New Everton stadium to 'rise from dock'". 25 July 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  20. ^ Bascombe, Chris (14 January 2020). "Everton agree £30m naming rights option for proposed new stadium with former Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov". The Telegraph.
  21. ^ Kirkbride, Phil (14 January 2020). "Everton enlist major banks to help finance Bramley-Moore Dock". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  22. ^ Jones, Adam. "New images show how Everton will transform Bramley-Moore Dock into state-of-the-art stadium". Liverpool Echo. Reach plc. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium". The Stadium Guide. The Stadium Guide. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  24. ^ Dunton, Jim. "Everton stadium plans 'a risk' to Liverpool's Unesco status". Building Design Online. Assemble Media Group. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  25. ^ "Unesco report says Liverpool should lose World Heritage status". BBC News. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  26. ^ McDonough, Tony (17 February 2021). "Everton stadium 'completely unacceptable', says UNESCO". LBN Daily. Liverpool Business News. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  27. ^ Rotheram, Steve. "Tweet About BMD". Twitter.com. Twitter, Inc. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  28. ^ Liverpool stripped of Unesco World Heritage status BBC News 21 July 2021
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