Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack hopes talks with the city’s civic leaders will lead to the Dons moving into a new eco-friendly stadium which an economic impact a study insists would inject £1billion into the Granite City’s economy over the next 50 years.
Despite signing off on a new £50m home in Kingsford – eight miles to the west of the town centre – several years ago, Cormack says he’s prepared to wait a decade for a decision from the local authority over a new ground.
Furthermore, the US-based software millionaire is ready to continue bankrolling the club as they wait for a definitive decision on whether the council wants them as part of a £150m development of Aberdeen’s beach area.
Their current ground, Pittodrie Stadium, has seen better days over the past 20 years as the club continues to put money into it in order to keep it to the level required – while off the field the Dons are set to announce losses of £4m.
Chairman Dave Cormack admits another £1.5m could be needed to upgrade Pittodrie if the club stay there over the next decade
Cormack, who was speaking at the launch of the results of an economic impact study they commissioned in conjunction with Aberdeen City Council, is keen to explore the idea of retaining the club in the town centre.
He said: “We’ve invested £5million in trying to find a home over the last 20 years. Part of that has been towards the costs of getting ready to build at Kingsford.
“The reality is we could be here [at Pittodrie] for another 10 years, but we’d have to invest another £1m to £1.5m in that time in Pittodrie.
“For example, we’re going ahead with £80,000 of LED lighting in the South Stand. It would be £250,000 if we did the whole stadium for the Europa League or Conference League. Construction inflation has hammered us.
“The hole was £10m coming out of Covid. We’ll announce our results soon and you will see approximately a £4m operational loss for last season, which doesn’t include player sales.”
Cormack is keen that were a new stadium to go ahead, decisions would be driven not only by economics but by the desire to see greater energy efficiencies, as Scotland bids to fashion itself as Europe’s energy capital.
“Evidence shows that successful regeneration projects need a centerpiece,” he said.
“This is one of the reasons Aberdeen City Council approached us about staying in the city with a stadium that would be a catalyst for the wider revitalisation of the beach area and its connectivity with the city centre.
“A new, net-zero, sea-facing stadium would drive the footfall necessary to enable the regeneration of the beachfront, including a potential urban park, refurbishment of the beach ballroom and the creation of superior leisure facilities so that the area becomes a true destination.
“Underlining Aberdeen’s ambition as a forward-thinking city, the proposed stadium and community leisure facilities would send out a positive signal about being open for business and investment, while internally, boosting civic pride and supporting the health and wellbeing of citizens.”
How could the city of Aberdeen benefit from a £1billion boost?
Aberdeen could move to a new eco-friendly stadium on the beach area
A report carried out by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce and MKA Economics says a new stadium at Aberdeen beach is projected to inject at least £1billion into the local economy over the next 50 years and generate footfall of 38 million.
It estimates that the stadium and community facilities would generate an additional £20m into the local economy every year while that, alongside a community leisure complex, would directly support 260 sustainable jobs, providing £6m per annum in salaries, and an additional £14.3m of gross value added every year.
Furthermore, £80m will be generated in new construction activity, creating almost 400 jobs across the industry.
Pittodrie currently generates around 400,000 visits every year. However, with bigger and better facilities, the new stadium could bring an additional 350,000 visitors per year for major events alone.
The report also cited Brentford’s new stadium as an example of how this move could lead to wider regeneration in the area.