'High quality' East Stand 'ahead of schedule' as Cobblers make plans for an official opening
Plans are already being drawn up to officially open the transformed East Stand after chairman Kelvin Thomas confirmed work on the project was ‘a touch ahead of schedule’.
Originally given a deadline of the first quarter of 2025 when work started last summer, the progress made by GRS has been impressive and means the stand could be open in the next six to eight weeks.
The club have earmarked a couple of home games for an official opening and Thomas, who gave manager Kevin Nolan a tour of the stand on Tuesday, believes people will be impressed by the quality of the work.
"The progress GRS have made is fantastic in terms of how quickly it's come along and I think it'll surprise everyone, not just the speed but the quality and we're very happy with it,” said Thomas. "Everyone knows our deadline was the first quarter of 2025 but I think we'll be a touch ahead of that and I don't think you can ask for much more.
"It's all about planning now to make sure we are all ready for when it opens. There's still some work to do but we're thinking about what game will be the first one and we'll probably have a soft opening and then an official opening.”
There was only so much the club could do with the existing structure already in place but Thomas has been delighted by how it’s all come together
He added: "People can see for themselves when they come to the ground how much progress has been made and you can see the quality of the build. We all know it was more of a remodel than a new build because a lot of the stuff was already in place but I think we've done a good job and we've done our best, along with GRS, to ensure it's a good product.
"From when we first took over the club, we've added loads. There's eight more boxes, there's the platform with the glass, additional seats, the reception area, the parking area. All of that stuff is massive. The accessible platform will be one of the best accessible platforms in the country, not just the league.
"I'm excited for the logos to go up because I think they'll look really good and the finished product won't be far away from the last set of CGIs and the last set of plans that we released.
"We have followed our fundamental principles and that was to get in as many seats as we could. The ring road and additional parking was really important too. It's a big build and a lot of money but we're really excited to get it open.”