Two firms are now competing for the contract to design, build and operate the stadium and their final bids are expected to be submitted to City of York Council by the end of May.

The authority said the chosen operator will be announced towards the end of the summer, when stadium designs are also set to be unveiled. 

Council leader James Alexander has tweeted that construction work will start by March next year.

This would mean the stadium opening for the 2016/17 season. Coun Sonja Crisp, the council’s cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, said: “The council is in the final stage of procurement for the design, build and operation of the community stadium, with the two shortlisted bidders.

“This scheme will provide a range of significant benefits for the city, including new high-quality facilities for football, rugby and athletics, a range of much-needed community facilities and new jobs in the building and running of the complex. We’re at an exciting part of the procurement process, and I look forward to the final proposals from our bidders so we can appoint the preferred bidder by the end of summer.”

Sophie Hicks, City’s communications and community director, said: “We are delighted everything is progressing well with the community stadium project.

“There continues to be much hard work behind the scenes and the next stage will be the announcement of the preferred bidder. It will be at this point when architectural plans for the stadium can be shown to supporters and the general public.

“The opening of the John Lewis store somehow makes the project feel more real, and we can’t wait to play our first game in the new stadium in July 2016.”

From The York Press dated Saturday 12th April.

After a year under construction, the ribbon was cut on the new centre next to Monks Cross, with John Lewis, Next, and Marks & Spencer also opening their doors for the first time.

Between the three brands, 580 new jobs have been created in the city, with more to join the park when six restaurants open on site next month.

The opening of the £15 million John Lewis, which marks the brand’s arrival in the city and the creation of 300 jobs, saw a queue of more than 100 people.

Robert Garnish, York John Lewis manager, who along with his staff all wore Yorkshire white roses for the opening, said: “I’m hugely honoured and proud today. It has been a fantastic journey to be able to see the building grow out of the ground, to pull together a fantastic team of staff, see them develop to the point where we are all ready to welcome our first customers.”

The store was opened by representatives from the first three charities in the store’s Community Matters scheme, which are Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS), Arc Light, and Accessible Arts and Media.

Deborah O’Donnell, centre manager at Vangarde Shopping Park, said: “The opening day has been absolutely fantastic. This has been anticipated for years and it’s finally here, and it has been amazing to see the number of people turning out.”

Melanie Dyson, store manager at Next, said: “The team have been working very hard for the past few weeks in preparation for this.”

Hilary Wilkinson, store manager at the new M&S, which boasts the brand’s largest delicatessen, added: “This morning has been amazing, I’m so proud of the team and what they have delivered today.”

The Vangarde Shopping Park is the enabling development for the new Community Stadium which is set to open in 2016.

From: The York Press dated Friday 11th April.

City of York Athletic Club was originally expected to move to a new base at the York Sport Village, in Heslington, ahead of Huntington Stadium – its current home – being demolished to make way for a new community stadium.

However, City of York Council said last year that the risk of the project’s costs increasing had led to a switch of sites, with the existing cinder track at the University of York’s nearby Heslington West campus being replaced instead.

A planning application for the work has been submitted and a decision is due to be made at the start of May, with the aim of completing the floodlit, county-standard track by the end of the year.

The council has said the upgrade will save a considerable amount and mean the new track will be ready sooner than the Sports Village scheme would have been.

It will also be of better quality and have a field events area, although opposition parties questioned the decision process behind the change of sites when it was announced last September.

A clubhouse and new sand-based football and hockey pitch are also intended to be built next to the site.

A statement from Sports Labs Ltd, the agents for the scheme, said: “The proposals will provide a new, up-to-date athletics facility for both students and the community, which will attract new users and national competitions to the area.

“The university is keen to have a first-class sports facility at their disposal. The local community, in particular the running clubs, were also consulted and they would like a safe and clean facility suitable for their members.

….“The athletics club wanted a track suitable to hold significant events and provide ample opportunities for training.”

Sports Labs said the Heslington West site was “not without problems”, as the existing track has six lanes and its replacement will have eight, and work will have to be carried out around water pipes which are in poor condition.

New 20-metre floodlights and a three-metre perimeter fence will also be installed.

From: The York Press dated Saturday 8th February.

An agreement between the University of York, the Athletics Club and City of York Council paves the way for the establishment of an athletics facility, which will be completed by the end of 2014.
 
The decision to build the facility on the Heslington West complex is based on the substantial benefits identified over earlier plans to base the new facility at the £10 million York Sport Village near Grimston Bar. Considerable cost savings have been achieved through the use of existing infrastructure at Heslington West and have enabled the provision of higher quality and a wider range of facilities.  The short construction schedule will also allow York Athletics Club to vacate Huntington Stadium between seasons, causing minimal disruption to their sporting programme. 

Cllr Sonja Crisp, cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism said: “This is an important day for the development of community sport in the city. Working in partnership with the Athletics Club and the University has enabled us to move forward with our commitment to the delivery of a new high quality athletics facility that is sustainable and will support the growth of athletics in York for years to come.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, Professor Brian Cantor, said: “We have a deep commitment to promoting the health and well-being of people throughout the city. Many members of the community already take advantage of our outstanding sports and recreational facilities, and it gives us great pleasure to enhance our facilities by providing a superb new athletics track for all our students and for the City of York Athletics Club.”
 
Neil Hunter, the chair of the Athletic Club, said: “Confirmation that the athletics stadium will definitely be delivered in 2014 is very welcome news.  The club has actively increased participation over a number of years in anticipation of this and consequently space at the existing facility is at a premium.  The move cannot come soon enough.
 
“It is clear that the Council and University share the same vision for a community based athletic club in York and we now have agreements in place regarding the long term commitment to this great new facility. I am confident that the new facilities will further increase the number of participants able to enjoy athletics and, in addition, we may see more York based athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympic & Paralympic Games”.

The discovery in January that the number of great crested newts had soared at the Monks Cross site delayed the start of construction work on the Vangarde development, which will house the new John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next stores.

The Oakgate Group, the firm behind the project, said cold spring weather also hampered progress, but the snags had now been overcome.
The development, approved by City of York Council and the Government last year, will create 1,000 jobs and will unlock funding for a neighbouring 6,000-seater community stadium to house York City FC and York City Knights.

Oakgate has also released new images of how the John Lewis store will look.

Managing director Richard France said: “After nearly three-and-a-half years of preparation and planning, it’s great to see a start on site after work was delayed due to ecological reasons, these being the rehousing of the great crested newts and the unseasonably cold Easter. We can now start in earnest to deliver not only 1,000 jobs, but to help secure the sporting legacy of the community stadium.

“York and its residents will soon be able to see the investment taking shape for themselves – it’s an exciting time for the city and our development will bring a £12 million annual boost to its economy, allowing York to cement itself as a major retail destination in Yorkshire.”
The newts had to be individually caught and rehomed at a £300,000 wetland.

Building work is being carried out by Caddick Construction.
The scheme – which opponents claimed would damage city-centre businesses – also includes restaurants, retail kiosks, a boulevard and a central walkway linking the stores to the Monks Cross Park&Ride.
Council leader James Alexander said: “This development marks an exciting period for York and its residents and sends a strong signal to the marketplace that York is open for business and opportunity.

“Not only is York’s retail offer being enhanced, providing an economic boost to the city, but this is another major step forward in providing a new home for our professional sports clubs and community health and sporting facilities to be proud of.”

From: The York Press dated Saturday 18th May.

Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd, which secured planning permission last year for new John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next stores at Monks Cross, needed a patch of City of York Council-owned land to finalise the sale of the retail scheme to Allied British Funds Pension Fund (ABF), saying the deal could not be completed without the site.

The firm will exchange this for land it owns at Monks Cross, which the council said would help deliver the project to build a neighbouring 6,000-seater stadium for York City FC and York City Knights, scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2015/16 sporting season. Both parcels of land were valued at £20,000.

A council report said the land swap would allow Oakgate, through the sale of the stores scheme to ABF, to produce a bond for the £13 million the firm will contribute towards the stadium.

Officials said the council could hold onto the land it owns as a “commercial ransom strip”, but would be “disadvantaging itself” as this would threaten Oakgate’s stadium payment.

From: The York Press dated Wednesday 10th April.

With the City of York Council now fully committed to the completion of a new community stadium at Monk’s Cross by Summer 2015, we decided it was high time to head to their offices at St Leonard’s Place to discuss the project with affable Community Stadium Project Officer Neil Wilford.

O&O: Why Monk’s Cross?

NW: I think there were four sites evaluated – this dates back a good few years now – and Monk’s Cross was the site which seemed the best option, to an extent because we could build on the existing [Ryedale Stadium] site. Obviously you need a large area for a sports stadium, and the way we’re doing it is levelling the existing stadium and building on top of that. There’s also space there for development alongside the stadium, so it’s ideal.

O&O: Are you confident people will make the trip?

NW: Yeah, we are. Looking at lots of the sports stadiums that’ve been built over the last 20 years, a lot of them are built on these kinds of sites on the edges of towns and cities. Some supporters have initial misgivings about having to travel out of the city, which is fair enough as they’ve got used to a certain location, especially with a football club. I think those initial misgivings will be washed away after a few months. As long as the transport links are adequate then it’ll be a good enough place for everyone.

O&O: ‘York Community Stadium’ – final name?

NW: No, I don’t think it will be. It’s a label we’ve given it at the outset of the project as it adequately describes what we’re aiming for. Obviously it’s a stadium for more than one club, and there’ll be facilities on the site that hopefully the whole city can use. That’s the label we’ve given it, but the name of the stadium will be decided over the next couple of years.

O&O: Football and rugby aside, have you any ideas about how else the stadium might be used by the community?

NW: We’re not just building a football stadium. There will be what we’re terming a community hub which will be office space for partners that have got involved with the project – we’ve signed terms with York St John University, the NHS Trust… it’ll be an area where perhaps outpatient clinics will be taking place, St John’s might be offering physiotherapy, so there’ll be lots more going on besides sporting fixtures.There’ll also be a lot of scope for people to use hospitality facilities within the stadium to tie in with what they’re doing.

O&O: What of York Athletics Club? Are they being re-housed?

NW: As part of the conditions of building on the site the council committed to relocating them with adequate provision, above and beyond the facilities they currently use. I believe they’ll be moving to the Sports Village site at the University of York. They are likely to have better facilities than they currently have.

O&O: What’s the production timescale for the build project?

NW: We should have a preferred bidder to design and build the stadium by the end of this year, around October/November time. Once they’ve been appointed there’ll be a full planning permission application put in to the council, and it’s likely that’ll be given a yes or a no early next year. Once planning permission is granted the construction company will be able to start building as soon as possible. Given those timescales, it’s likely that construction will start late spring/early summer 2014, and give or take a month or two it’ll be built within a year. The definite aim is to have York City FC play there from the season 2015/16. So come August 2015, they should be able to play their first league game there.

O&O: Have you decided on any design ‘must-haves’ for the stadium?

NW: The council has put together a design specification that the bidders are working to. With regards to specific requirements, there has to be a minimum capacity of 6,000. There are a lot of design elements that are desired but not essential, but the be-all-and-end-all is a capacity of 6,000 plus.

O&O: With York City F.C. moving up the football pecking order, do you think 6,000 will remain a sufficient capacity long into the future?

NW: As part of the specification, we’ve asked for scope for expansion, whatever size we build initially. So if York City F.C. and York City Knights become larger and attendances grow, there’ll always be the possibility of making the stadium larger.

*   *   *   *   *

Plans to re-house sports teams with the wealth of history and support of those involved in this move to Monks Cross are always sure to attract some criticism, and many supporters will be resistant to change. As far as we can tell however, the plans for York’s new community stadium can only do great things for the city.

Councillor Sonja Crisp had this to add: “This is a really exciting time for the community stadium project. Initial bids, setting out the outline proposals of five bidders, have been submitted to the council and we’ll have narrowed these down to two final bidders of the procurement process later in the year when we will then select a preferred bidder and award the contract.

“We also have an exciting opportunity for people to get involved in the project as part of the community archaeological dig that will take place on the site in early 2014. We’re aiming to bring the history of the site together with its sporting future and will be working with the sports clubs’ community sections, local schools and other groups to get involved”.

City of York Council has produced a timeline for how the project to build a 6,000-seater home for York City FC and York City Knights on the Huntington Stadium site at Monks Cross is scheduled to move forward during 2013, after proposals for the shopping complex which will fund it were approved last year.

The authority said final bids to design, build and operate the stadium will be received in August, with two bidders being shortlisted, and a contract will be awarded in October. A full planning application – including the stadium’s appearance – will be submitted the following month and the successful bidder will formally sign the contract early next year.

Meanwhile, City of York Athletics Club – which will move from its current Huntington Stadium base to a new track and facilities as part of the York Sport Village at the University of York – has said its new home is set to be ready by the end of this year.

Building work on the community stadium was originally due to begin towards the end of 2013 and be completed by November 2014, or the following March. But construction will now not start until June 2014, meaning the venue will be open for the start of the 2015/16 sporting season.

Councillor Sonja Crisp, the council’s cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism, said it was “a really exciting time” for the stadium project. She said: “Initial bids setting out the outline proposals of five bidders have been submitted to the council and we will have narrowed these down to two final bidders later in the year.

“We will then select a preferred bidder and award the contract.”

She said a community archaeological dig at the stadium site, in early 2014, would allow sports clubs, schools and other groups to get involved in the scheme and bring the history of the site together with its sporting future.

York City chairman Jason McGill said he hoped ideas for the stadium’s design could be radically different. He said: “We’re looking for something innovative, iconic, beneficial to the city of York culturally and historically, and somewhere everybody – not just football and rugby league fans – feels welcome.”

Neil Hunter, who chairs the athletics club, said he had been told the Sport Village facilities would be operating by the end of this year. He said: “This will allow us to introduce more people to athletics and open up avenues we do not have at the moment.”

 From: The York Press dated Wednesday 16th January.