Luton Town CEO Gary Sweet says the club’s new Power Court stadium can “improve on the atmosphere” of Kenilworth Road and start to change perceptions of the whole town.
It was confirmed yesterday that the Hatters have appointed the contractor behind Barcelona’s Nou Camp redevelopment and construction on the 25,000-seat new stadium will begin this summer with a view to hosting its first competitive game at the start of the 2028/29 season.
It has been a long process to get to this point as initial plans for a 17,500-seat stadium were unveiled in 2016. A major planning row with the former owners of The Mall Shopping Centre, plus the Covid pandemic and the fallout from Brexit have all contributed road blocks to the project, but last season’s promotion to the Premier League allowed the club’s property arm, 2020 Developments, to think bigger.
Instead of building a stadium with room to grow it’s capacity, they redesigned it to its current proposed capacity and have also used the time to ensure a unique design that can be a jewel in the crown of the town.
It also means that the club’s current Kenilworth Road home has its days numbered and after last weekend’s frenzied atmosphere that helped the Hatters past Coventry, to put them in the box seat for Championship survival, there may be some consternation among fans that the 120-year-old stadium will be hard to replicate.
“We actually mark down around about 24 different characteristics in Kenilworth Road that we’d like to carry forward and take into Power Court. And these are characteristics that you probably wouldn’t see in other brand new stadiums, actually. So they will be quite unique to our stadium,” Sweet told the BBC.
“We think we can possibly even improve on the atmosphere. So, we’re taking a really bold move in various areas, like the roof designs, the corner designs where we’re still keeping the front row of the seats quite close to the pitch, as close as we we can, under under compliance.
“We’re doing all of those things that people think creates a special atmosphere at Kenilworth Road, but I think we’re doing even more than that. So, I am actually confident that that this is going to be a special place to be.
“And I think when people go into into the new stadium at Power Court, they’ll feel a certain familiarity about that environment versus the old girl at the Kenny.”
Luton Town under the stewardship of the 2020 Board, purposefully earmarked the derelict and toxic former power plant site at Power Court, which has sat boarded up for more than two decades, for its central location within the town.
Situated between the town’s centre’s two railway stations it would be easily accessible for fans, but with plans to build homes, bars, restaurants, a music venue and de-culvert the River Lea to make it into a public realm attraction, the Power Court plans will help regenerate Luton.
“It’s not just the stadium, of course. It’s everything else that happens on Power Court,” said Sweet.
“Part of that would be, for example, the 1,000 apartments that we’d be building. But everything that goes on at ground floor level, which we seek to curate in an environment that will give a really beautiful piece of public realm in the middle of Luton, which is really badly needed.
“And that’s something which will include opening up the River Lea as well. So, it’s almost like bringing a bit of Coal Drops Yard [in London’s Kings Cross] up to our town. It’s that kind of thing that we want to want to try and attract.
“But once you’ve got a football stadium like that, which will be really iconic and eventually there’ll be a music arena and a hotel. And those activities would mean that you’ve got the stadium alive 365 days a year, not just for 25 odd.
“And when you’ve got the train station and the railway line that brings thousands of passengers past it every day and the halo lights above the stadium, it changes the perception, people’s perception of our town.
“And that’s one of the biggest things we’ve got to battle against. And if somebody actually was tempted just to get off at Luton Station and go and have a look around, then their perceptions will be changed permanently, we feel.”
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