Jun 21 - GFA Reveals National Stadium Plans
The GFA has today submitted to the Development & Planning Commission a project to construct a new National Stadium for Gibraltar on the site of the current Victoria Stadium.
The GFA has worked intensively over the past year with its Gibraltar-based project managers ANS and The Stadium Consultancy based in the Netherlands to develop a concept and design which it trusts “will be a source of great national pride for the whole Gibraltarian community, regardless of whether they are football fans or not.” The new stadium will meet all of UEFA’s Category IV infrastructure regulations including capacity, which will be set at 8,000 seats.
The GFA says it is especially pleased to be working in close cooperation with the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE) in order to deliver a model stadium on accessibility, with over 80 wheelchair spaces, an equal number of spaces for wheelchair companions, easy access seats and a sensory room to cater for persons with autism. The concept is for a fully accessible stadium, in which the matchday experience is the same for every person attending an event - “a stadium for all the community.”
Following the conclusion of the public consultation period, the GFA expects to go before the Development & Planning Commission for outline planning permission in September. All being well, construction of the new stadium is expected to start during the first quarter of 2019 and will take two years to complete. The project will be phased in such a way to ensure that football will continue to be played at the facility right through the construction period, with minimum disruption envisaged.
The GFA says it hopes the new project will enjoy the support of the community at large and is confident that it will deliver, by 2021, a national stadium of which every Gibraltarian can be proud.
Members of the public who wish to view a special promotional video of the new national stadium are invited to visit the GFA’s official store at 62-64 Irish Town where the video, as well as images of what the new national stadium will look like, will be on permanent display as from 1pm today.
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