Sainsbury's acquires Morecambe stadium
by Pete Hayman | 20 Jan 2009
Christie Park, the current home of Morecambe Football Club (MFC), is to be sold to supermarket company Sainsbury's in a deal that will enable work to begin on the club's new 6,800-capacity stadium.
Sainsbury's is now expected to apply for planning permission to Lancaster City Council (LCC) to develop a new superstore at Christie Park, while MFC prepares to move a 5.3-hectare (13-acre) site at Westgate, which will also include an outdoor multi-sports facility. LCC granted planning permission for the Westgate project in September, as well as giving outline approval for a 40-bedroom hotel, a club shop and seven food and drink outlets.
MFC has drawn up the plans for the stadium in partnership with planning consultants, Maze Planning Solutions, architects The Harris Partnership, and structural engineers, R.G Perkins and Partners. The new stadium will incorporate 2,100 seats along with 54 wheelchair spaces, and bar and catering facilities in each of the four stands. The main stand will also include a 300-seat function suite and six executive boxes.
Three new football pitches will form part of the new multi-sports facility, with one full-size synthetic pitch and two five-a-side pitches set to provide MFC with training facilities, as well as the local community. Two all-weather tennis courts which can be used for a range of other sports are also among the proposals. MFC chair, Peter McGuigan, said: "The new stadium will provide an opportunity for the club to raise fresh revenue streams which would be impossible to achieve at Christie Park and should therefore ensure the financial viability of Morecambe Football Club.
"The sale of Christie Park to Sainsbury's is great news for us and the local community since it allows us to not only build a fantastic future for the club, but also to provide much needed community sport facilities." Work is expected to start on the new stadium in spring 2009, and it is expected to be completed in time for the 2010-11 season. Christie Park will be handed over to Sainsbury's in July 2010.
Christie Park, the current home of Morecambe Football Club (MFC), is to be sold to supermarket company Sainsbury's in a deal that will enable work to begin on the club's new 6,800-capacity stadium. Sainsbury's is now expected to apply for planning permission to Lancaster City Council (LCC) to develop a new superstore at Christie Park, while MFC prepares to move a 5.3-hectare (13-acre) site at Westgate, which will also include
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