SUFC: The Future The regeneration of Roots Hall

[Massimo Giovanni]

It is a sad but also realistic reflection of some of football society that there could not safely be a shared food/bar outlet for N and East. or N and West stands. A new plush facility catering for home and away.
Just a pop up structure like in the car park at Wycombe would be a start.

 

[Uncle_Rons_Teapot]

Any pics of the new sign in the dark? Interested to see just how bright it is

 

[united we stand]

Just you

Maybe I should have added- ‘but it’s my ****’. And I love it. But you have to be totally blind to say it’s a good looking building.

 

[leeblue]

Maybe I should have added- ‘but it’s my ****’. And I love it. But you have to be totally blind to say it’s a good looking building.

Roots hall is my heart and soul.
It's a crumbling s#/£hole for sure.

 

[Cricko]

@North Wales Shrimper @Cricko
According to Peter Mason's excellent book:
"The pitch ran from north to south, as it does today, and although it had a pronounced slope from one end to the other, it was judged a satisfactory surface by the standards of the day."

"...when the First World War put a stop to the Southern League two years later a dispute developed over outstanding rent. Southend tried to generate money by sub-letting Roots Hall to the military, but by June 1916 when the lease ran put, there was no option than for the owner George Radford to hold an auction of Roots Hall assets to raise money...A week later work begun on digging the pitch into allotments.

[Soon after the end of the First World War]...it's [Roots Hall] new owners, Southend Gas Company, discovered large deposits of sand on the site. The firm had originally intended to erect a Gas Holder on the land, but the inter war housing boom in Southend had created a huge demand for sand, so the opportunity at Roots Hall was too good to miss.

When the sandpit was exhausted most of the area was taken over by the Gas Light & Coke Company, which used the huge hole created by quarrying as a dump for old cookers, piping and other gas related paraphernalia. Locals also took to throwing rubbish in the pit..."

Hope this helps tidy up a few inaccuracies concerning our route to 'The Hall' as we know it.

I said "The ground was actually used as an allotment during world war 1"

I cannot see any inaccuracy in my post??

 

[Flinty]

I said "The ground was actually used as an allotment during world war 1"

I cannot see any inaccuracy in my post??

And he knows as he had a couple of rods in it

 

[ms brush]

It is a sad but also realistic reflection of some of football society that there could not safely be a shared food/bar outlet for N and East. or N and West stands. A new plush facility catering for home and away.
Just a pop up structure like in the car park at Wycombe would be a start.

There would be some merit in looking at a temporary structure, so the same outlet with serving windows on both sides, straddling the divide between home and away fans. That way you have the one outlet serving both and no additional cost on the freezing cold days where the away club brings 20 diehard fans who need (apart from their heads testing) a hot coffee, some food and a pint or two!

 

[TrueBlue]

I doubt they do micro surgery.

walked straight into that one didn't I lol

 

[nick12]

Roots Hall is our home and no matter how run down and crumbling it is I love it and never wanted a new stadium.

Redevelopment over time for me is the ideal scenario and I am looking forward to seeing what can be done as the possibilities are enormous.

So lovely to be posting about the future knowing we now have one

UTB

 

[Ozzer]

The pic at post 801 looks like it has electrics. I think it lights up.

I thought that was the string that held the old one up

 

[Mr. Benedict]

It is a sad but also realistic reflection of some of football society that there could not safely be a shared food/bar outlet for N and East. or N and West stands. A new plush facility catering for home and away.
Just a pop up structure like in the car park at Wycombe would be a start.

The away end at Kidderminster shares its food outlet with the home stand next to it, they just have two counters, one for each set of fans. I'm not sure whether there is enough space around the back of the north / west stands to achieve something like this though.

 

[Crowstone Crevette]

I said "The ground was actually used as an allotment during world war 1"

I cannot see any inaccuracy in my post??

No sorry @Cricko , I didn't mean to included you in that comment. You were spot on! Just 'copied you in' 'cos I thought you might be interested in the other information (that is if you weren't already aware).

Again sorry for seemingly questioning your knowledge.

 

[Green Wizard]

If there is going to be major redevelopment shortly I wouldn't like to spend money on making do on parts of the ground unless it is to increase capacity. I am quite happy to sit on crappy seats, use the toilets and even eat the food for a little while knowing that soon there will be a ground that everybody loves and looks forward to watching football again. I liked the idea of a brand new stadium being built at FF but that idea has been consigned to the bin so let's not try to waste too much money on painting over the cracks for the next few years!

 

[Firestorm]

I guess the improvements we are seeing (scoreboard , exterior signage ), are being paid for by the way of additional sponsorship , so are not impacting anything Cosu are expected to put into the club.
I imagine that other improvements will be done in some sort of Income vs expenditure order , Probably starting with the food outlets to maximise the matchday income whilst the crowds are up due to the current tide of Euphoria . If they can get a fanzone up and running by the first home game thats another one which will start paying for itself quickly.
Once the kit launch is done , thats another income stream to tap into the current mood too.

 

[TheCowboy]

Any pics of the new sign in the dark? Interested to see just how bright it is

Hi Youngun, lets put it this way, the residents of SS9 couldn't sleep last night such was the glow.

 

[Crowstone Crevette]

Any pics of the new sign in the dark? Interested to see just how bright it is

Apparently it can be seen from space along with The Great Wall of China!*



*MYTH ALERT: Neither the new sign at Roots Hall nor The Great Wall of China can be seen from space.

 

[Crowstone Crevette]

Gardeners are in. All we need now is Freddy Eastwoods mates and 6000 ton of tarmac.

View attachment 33027

No gardening has been done at the West Stand entrance, it must be on their very long list of "Things to do"!
Could hear the PA system being tested this morning though.

 

[Cricko]

No gardening has been done at the West Stand entrance, it must be on their very long list of "Things to do"!
Could hear the PA system being tested this morning though.

 

[TheCowboy]

MYTH ALERT MYTH ALERT, how would we know? there's no actual picture of the earth from space, they are all CGI, anyway back on topic....

 

[Sunnyshrimper]

Understandably there is a lot of focus on the current stands, how we renovate to restore safety and capacity in short term. I am interested by the plot as a whole and what we may be able to do moving forward. As I understand it, (and I may be wrong, happy to be corrected for those who know more) Roots Hall site comprises of this. As it stands we have almost no ability to do much with South stand or West due to space constraint with residential buildings directly behind, a little with North and plenty with East. Given we have access on 3 sides, I would imagine we must be considering knocking down that old block of flats and the parade of shops in the corner, assuming we have the ability to do this, open up the entrance, rotate the pitch, levelling the sloping areas etc in the longer term. The space is there if it is done right..