Tigers receive Stadium boost
Castleford Tigers have received a welcome boost in their bid for a new stadium after Wakefield Council agreed at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting to transfer land assets into the Tigers’ name.
The land – the site of the old Castleford swimming pool – will now be transferred into a new company set up for the development of the stadium to provide much needed finance for the new stadium. It will also mean that a swimming pool will now be included at the new stadium site.
Tigers’ CEO Richard Wright said: This is another very positive step. We needed Wakefield Council to commit formally to helping us with the project, we needed to clarify the nature of their support, and we needed to determine the facilities they wished to be included in the stadium.
“They have done all three and we can now move forward to appointing architects. We are in contact with a number of architects and we can now finalise the design brief for them to consider and provide us with proposals.
“From there we will select one to work with and move towards a detailed design as soon as possible. The swimming pool will be part of that design and it will of course be open to the general public. This 7 day week operation is a good addition to the stadium project.”
Wright was also quick to allay fan fears over delays, although admitted the club were pushing for time now.
“The fans are well aware of the time constraints we are under and have become concerned at the lack of progress, and we have not been helped by the state of the economy.
“Ideally we would like more time. But this project is exactly what the district needs at this time. It will generate 1,500 jobs, it will bring hundreds of thousands of visitors into the area, and it will provide badly needed facilities to the whole community of the 5 towns and the wider Wakefield District.
“It will also allow the Club to operate a much bigger community programme and enable us to make a real difference to the health and education of local people. It is important that the Council is fully supportive of the scheme and it is now time for everybody to get behind us and help us to deliver for 2011.
“We really appreciate the continued support of Stuart McLoughlin and Waystone as without them the stadium would not be possible. We are lucky to have their support and such a superb location in our area and Waystone continue to invest in the project to make sure it happens.”