€10 to €11 million is the estimated cost to bring Semple Stadium up to modern standards.
That’s according to the chair of the stadium’s management committee Ger Ryan.
Structural and mechanical upgrades, safety upgrades, improved seating, pitch irrigation and an upgraded wheelchair access facility are among some of the things needed to redevelop the Thurles venue.
Templederry native Ger Ryan outlines what work needs to be done.
“Concrete repairs in the stands and terraces, some boundary wall improvements, we need to treat roof steelwork in both stands, we need to upgrade aspects of the press box and ensure that is safe in the long term and better protected from weather as it is at present.
“Mechanical and electrical services, they need upgrading again right now.
“We’ve seen a change in use in terms of the time of the year that the stadium is used so that requires additional pitch irrigation systems and maybe an upgrade to the pitch itself.
“We also need some decorating and painting around the place and also we want to improve the seating.
“In most stadiums you go to now there is seating with backs in all of them, we would’ve been ahead in terms of the quality of seating twenty years ago but now we have fallen behind so we’d like to upgrade the seating.
“Most importantly then we need a proper facility for wheelchair users, at present they sit in front of Ardán O’Riain which leaves them very much exposed to the weather and we really want to oblige people like that better coming to games than being exposed to the weather, it is just simply not suitable.”
The former Munster GAA Chairman says the ambition is to deliver those improvements in the next three to four years.
“When you add up all of that, there is a lot of expenditure required but when you compare it maybe to building a new stadium or a new stand or something like that it is not too bad.
“We estimate it is in the order maybe of €10-€11 million but we would be hoping that if we got to spend that, that we would have a stadium that would be viable for another 15-20 years and if it’s maintained well and effectively in that period you might even get longer out of it.
“So that would be the ambition of the governing body and the management committee, to deliver that sort of improvement over the next 3-4 years or so.”
The topic of the GAA’s role in the local economy and the future of Semple Stadium is the topic of this evening’s episode of ‘Tipp FM Investigates – Sport & Society’ at 7pm.
