New Finn Harps Stadium

The New Finn Harps Stadium is a stalled construction project in Stranorlar, Ireland. The stadium was initially intended to have a capacity of 6,800 spectators, and proposed as an association football venue to replace Finn Park as the home stadium of Finn Harps F.C.. Planning permission was granted in June 2007,[1] and ground breaking was started in May 2008. After intermediate delays, work recommenced in late 2011 with foundations in place.[2][3] The project was again delayed in October 2012.[4] "Minimal work" was undertaken on the project between 2014 and 2020, with the project stalled pending a proposed investment of €6.7 million in state funding.[5][6]

New Finn Harps Stadium
Artist's impression
LocationRailway Road, Stranorlar, Republic of Ireland
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground2008
ArchitectJoseph McMenamin & Sons
Tenants
Finn Harps FC

History
Drawings of main stand from original plans
Rear of main stand with admin block as constructed before work stalled

Initial drawings had the stadium planned as a 7,000 seater stadium, but minor changes were made to make it a 6,600 all-seat stadium. Ground was broken in 2008 but it wasn't until 2014 that significant building work was undertaken on site. Some of these delays were due to financial reasons, as a decline in property values mean that the new stadium was more dependent on state funding.[4] Planning permission was extended for a further five-year period.

Following Finn Harps 2017 AGM in May 2017,[7] Finn Harps announced that following a stall in progress, revised plans would be launched in summer 2017, co-ordinated by former Chief Executive of North West Tourism Paul McLoone. The expected capacity of this updated proposal was projected to be between 5,500-6,000 with a seated capacity consisting of a main stand with 1,954 seats and another seated stand opposite that seating between 2,000-2,500, combined with terraced ends totaling an extra standing capacity of 1,500.[8]

At the start of July 2018, the Department of Sport announced a €304,000 grant towards the relaunch, redraw of plans, and fees towards the restart of the stadium build in Stranorlar.[9]

As of May 2020 the project, which had reputedly seen "virtually no work carried out" since 2014, was stalled pending the proposed investment of €6.7 million in state funding.[10] As of September 2020, this situation had not changed.[6]

References
  1. "Permission granted for Harps stadium". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  2. "Work to start on Harps stadium". One Stop News Stand. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15.
  3. "Harps to turn sod on new stadium". Eleven-a-side.
  4. Scanlon, Cronan (19 October 2012). "Lack of funding delays Harps stadium". Donegal News. North-West News Group. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  5. "Funding crisis for Finn Harps' long-planned new stadium". irishnews.com. Irish News. 21 January 2020.
  6. "Government urged to release funding for Finn Harps stadium". highlandradio.com. Highland Radio. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020. Work on the project has effectively been stalled since 2014
  7. "AGM 2017". finnharps.com.
  8. "Paul McLoone to co-ordinate new Harps stadium project". donegaldemocrat.ie. Donegal Democrat. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. "Finn Harps welcome funding for new stadium". rte.ie. RTÉ. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  10. "New ground can kick-start bright, new era for Finn Harps". irishnews.com. Irish News. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.

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