Chelsea Denies Move to Earls Court
While club applies to open new gastropub and nightclub
Chelsea Football Club has denied rumours that it is considering a move from its Stamford Bridge home to new purpose built premises in Earls Court.
There has been speculation that the move could be on the cards following a report in the Guardian that Chelsea were in talks with developer Capital and Counties, who are planning to demolish Earls Court Exhibition Centre after the 2012 Olympic Games.
However, Chelsea spokesman Steve Atkins has issued a statement strongly denying the rumours. He says: " We don't have any plans to move stadium at this time.
" We get two or three of these proposals a year it seems, we have a look at them but we have no plans to move stadiums.
" There are quotes out there from the investment director for the site developers for Earl's Court which state they have merely been keeping us up-to-date on progress for the site because we were interested a number of years ago, but they are committed to their original plan. They will be moving forward on the housing project.
" We have had talks with them but we have no plans to move."
The current plan is to turn Earls Court into a new residential area with 8,000 new homes, designed by famous architect Terry Farrell, but the developers are said to be still looking to see if a better deal becomes available.
Four years ago, Chelsea considered the Earls Court site which could allow them to house crowds of 60,000 instead of the 41,000 maximum at Stamford Bridge, but decided then not to proceed.
This time, the club appears to have decided, instead of moving, to make greater use of the properties within the Chelsea Village. It has recently made two separate applications to the planning and licensing departments of Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
The planning application was the change the ground floor of the Court Hotel, within the grounds to a gastropub. The full details of this application and a form for those who wish to make comments can be found here on the council's weekly applications list.
The second application was for a licence to amend the layout of the nightclub within Chelsea Village which was formerly known as Purple, with a view to reopening it under the new name Under the Bridge. Details of the application and form for comments can be viewed here.
November 10, 2010
November 10, 2010
