On 10 January Saints undertake the redevelopment of the Love Street terracing,  the first major development of the ground to take place since the Caledonian stand was built.   The existing terrace will be transformed into a 2,200 seater covered stand at a cost of nearly half a million pounds.

Almost everyone is aware of the reasons behind the redevelopment. Currently for a first division club to gain entry into the Scottish Premier League they require a minimum of 10,000 covered seats.  At present Saints fall just short of that target.

Much work has gone on behind the scenes at Love St to prepare a tender package for the construction of the stand.  At the time of writing the negotiations are with two major contractors one of whom will be appointed to execute the work in the next few days.  It is considered that the deadline for completion of 31 March is very optimistic however it is the clubs view that if the work is substantially complete by this time then this should not affect the SPL stance.  Nevertheless the appointed contractor will be under enormous pressure to complete the stand to ensure Saints can gain entry to the SPL - on the field results permitting.

The stand will be a cantilever structure comprising castellated beams with two main lines of support columns.  The existing toilet and food facilities will be completely demolished and new facilities incorporated in the development.  The existing stair entrance/exit points will remain for the new development.

Other sundry work includes reshaping the boundary wall and turnstile entrance points to the stand on Love street.  This was part of the Council planning conditions aimed at alleviating congestion on Love Street itself.

One of the most notable features of the stand will be a high level view point for disabled spectators.  This is possible due to the existing access ramp to the North Stand which will form the entrance for disabled spectators into the stand.  The finished development will perhaps offer disabled spectators a better view than any other ground in Scotland.

We have managed to obtain some preliminary drawings of the stand and these can be viewed by clicking the links below (which will open in a new window).  The files are fairly large and are not the best quality however they serve to illustrate the development. It should also be noted that the contract is a 'Design and Build' type so these drawings are preliminary since the final details have yet to be developed.

Cross Section looking North

Plan

Elevation looking East

Sizzling Saints will continue to monitor the development as it progresses.

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