Luton CEO Gary Sweet has said the Hatters’ new Power Court stadium will help the club return to the Premier League, attract better players and will “elevate the club and town together”.
Detailed plans for the 25,000-seat arena were last night unanimously approved by Luton councillors, paving the way to start building in the new year with a view to playing a first match in new surroundings by 2027.
The Hatters have been at their current Kenilworth Road home since 1905 and last year, it became the smallest ever ground in the Premier League when Town were promoted, though £13million of work last summer to rebuild the Bobber’s Stand saw its capacity edge past Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.
The plans for Power Court – which were last night fully approved, alongside outline plans for a music venue and hotel – were always aimed at long-term sustainability, to help the Hatters compete against richer clubs in the upper echelons of the English game.
But Luton lasted just one season in the top division and are now struggling to find their feet in the Championship when they had hoped to be challenging for promotion back to the big time at the first time of asking.
However, chief executive Sweet, addressing the council’s development management committee, said of Luton’s historic rise to the Premier League: “In order to repeat this, and to maintain a position at the top table of English football we need a new, bigger, better stadium that brings us up to date, gives us greater pride and enables us to create, be more competitive and attracts better players.
“The wider benefits of Premier League action to Luton as a town are so far reaching that everyone benefits particularly economically, but also from a sense of pride, well-being and social harmony. All of these benefits were evident last season, and many have continued.
“The delivery of this stadium has been long in the making. It’s always been about delivering something we can be proud of to elevate the club and town together. And to guarantee the long-term sustainability of our football club.”
New stadium plans from Luton’s 2020 fan-led consortium of owners were first unveiled in 2016, but the Premier League money allowed them to redesign the proposals, which had originally been to build a 17,500-capacity home.
As much-loved as Kenilworth Road is, it is surrounded by terraced houses in the Bury Park area of the town, with the Oak Road entrance famously taking away fans through neighbours gardens to get to the terraces.
And while there is no more room to develop their current home, the club’s owners have worked hard to design a new stadium that matches some of the characteristics that make Kenilworth Road such an intimidating place to play.
Power Court will be built with four unique stands, close to the pitch and a unique acoustically designed roof structure and safe standing behind one goal. Maintained from the original design are the unique floodlights which Sweet said will “act as an architectural masterpiece, representing a ribbon around our hat or a halo”.
Sweet added: “This is our new home for generations. and the materials to be used will be so high-quality it will respect the importance of the stadium’s location in proximity to St Mary’s Church, and will strike the right balance of tone between refinement and pride.”
Ground works have already begun on the Power Court site, with the club having recently moved an electricity sub-station. But Sweet confirmed: “The next milestone will be breaking ground to begin construction next year. To have a new home ready by 2027.”
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