Everton have issued an update on the building timescale of their new stadium on the historic day that the club took formal possession of Bramley-Moore Dock with fans able to follow progress on a web cam. Construction will now begin on the Blues’ stunning new £500million 52,888 capacity waterfront home with the club hoping to move in during the 2024/25 season. Writing in a message sent out to supporters, Everton Stadium Development Director Colin Chong outlined how considerable work must be carried out on site before the structure of Goodison Park’s successor can start going up.
Everton Stadium Development Director Colin Chong said: “This next phase in our development is known as ‘enabling works’ – preparing the dock site in readiness for the build. A process that will take several weeks. Part of this enabling work includes putting in place staff welfare facilities – and these will be extensive as our new stadium project is likely to be the biggest single-site private sector development in the country. There could be as many as 12,000 people working throughout the build phase. While the infilling of the dock is still some weeks away, we have been repairing the dock wall which will be preserved underneath our new stadium. We have also carried out several surveys beneath the water in the dock, including an unexploded ordinance survey and I’m sure you’ll be delighted to hear that so far there is nothing in there that concerns us. Our next steps for the dock are to ensure we carefully remove and re-home any wildlife and other organisms in the water before we begin infilling the dock with sand from the Mersey estuary in the autumn. The demolition of the existing non-listed structures is also still some weeks away but we need to make sure we have cleared the buildings of any unrequired materials and finalised our site clearance and demolition plans. It is our intention that we’ll be formally breaking ground on the eastern quayside in the early part of August.”
Mr Chong also expressed his gratitude to both Everton’s fanbase – who will be able to follow progress on the site through a web cam – and the club’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, who it is understood will pay for the enabling works in a ‘phased’ funding model before the Blues borrow from the private sector to meet the overall cost.
Mr Chong added: “While it has not been an easy or quick process to secure planning permission, we simply would not have reached this momentous point without the backing of Evertonians and the support of the people of our city region. I am proud of our achievements to date and grateful to the Board and Mr Moshiri for their continued commitment and investment in our club’s future. It is an honour to be leading a dedicated project team of Everton staff who, like me, are delighted to receive the keys for the site and, alongside Laing O’Rourke, begin the process of building a stadium Evertonians will call ‘home’ for generations to come. While this is a significant occasion for our club, I would urge supporters not to attempt to access the site. There is – and will continue to be – a lot of heavy goods vehicles arriving delivering plant equipment and supplies. There will be no public access through the gates at Bramley-Moore Dock and the health and safety of everyone on-site is a priority. In the coming weeks, we will be installing a web camera allowing you to see live images of what is happening at the site. In addition to the webcam we will also soon be launching a new project website which will house all our latest news and which will act as the portal for any questions you may have for us.”
