Bristol Rovers chairman Nick Higgs has confirmed the club’s ground revamp is on target despite the current financial crisis.
The £36-million Memorial Stadium makeover has already suffered from the credit crunch and was delayed for a year this summer when the student accommodation provider Opal pulled out.
The Rovers chairman was bullish in August, in his first interview after taking over from Ron Craig, that the stadium would still be delivered, with plans to push the button in the New Year and commence work in May.
And this week he confirmed the club had put the project out to tender as planned, that he would be making an announcement in the next few weeks and May 2009 was still the goal for starting work.
He said: “It’s all on target. I have been in design meetings today and we are out to the market. There is no change to the spec. It suits what we want in the future and where we want the club to be.
“Now we are in a state of limbo while we wait for responses.”
As revealed in August, the redevelopment project will leave the club with a residual debt of about £2m, a situation which has not changed but which will not jeopardise the rebuilding despite the banking crisis.
“Nothing has changed on that front,” said Mr Higgs. “We are still comfortable with the amount which will be repaid through revenue from the new stadium.”
Financial director Toni Watola was equally confident about the project but, like Mr Higgs, tempered his statement with a touch of realism.
“We’re, what’s the phrase, ‘quietly confident’,” said Mr Watola. “We still have the support of the bank, but until you get signatures on a piece of paper you never know.”
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