Stadium close to completion
These pictures today show how close Shrewsbury Town's £15 million New Meadow stadium is to completion.
These pictures today show how close Shrewsbury Town's £15 million New Meadow stadium is to completion.
The club's initials are spelt out in giant letters in the blue and amber seats at the venue in Oteley Road.
The first of the seats were installed earlier this month, following much anticipation from fans. Hall Construction Services workers have recently been installing up to 300 per day.
And the pitch is looking lush, green and ready for play in the new season, which kicks-off in a few months' time.
The 10,000-seater stadium is also an impressive sight from nearby roads and dominates the skyline.
Town fan Ant Thomas, from Blue and Amber fanzine, said: "Having the seats in club colours makes the whole thing look really distinctive. It looks great."
Construction work began in March 2006 when Shrewsbury Town chairman Roland Wycherley cut the first sod. Now, the New Meadow is in its final stages of construction, with the main structure, pitch and floodlights all in place.
All that remains now is some internal work such as wiring and wallpapering.
The club has yet to decide on a name for the stadium and is trying to negotiate a commercial deal for the naming rights. Club chiefs are also trying to get planning permission to improve the community pitches that will be built next to the stadium.
The club has been working to overcome transport problems at the ground, which has only 670 car parking spaces.
One proposal is two "park and walk" sites with 100 spaces at Brooklands Hotel and Sutton Grange Nursery, both less than 20 minutes' walk away.
Nearly 1,000 park-and-ride spaces will also be available for £5 per vehicle at Shirehall, Shrewsbury Business Park and Priory School.
Shrewsbury Town vice chairman Keith Sayfritz said: "We are aiming to encourage alternatives to car travel whenever possible and to share car journeys when they are necessary."
Chief executive Steve Wellbeloved today said the stadium was on schedule.
He added that a few seats were still to be installed and that the pitch had dealt extremely well with the recent wet weather, which was a good omen for next season.
