A giant ice rink is scheduled to be built on land right next to Plymouth Argyle’s football stadium before the end of 2020 – the latest development at a site which has already seen nearly £10million of investment.
The Mayflower Ice Arena will be created on a patch of derelict ground next to the club’s redeveloped £8million grandstand and the new £1.1million Green Teverners’ Suite supporters’ bar.
The arena, expected to cover 40,000sqft, will be sited between the redeveloped stadium and the Life Centre sports complex, on ground originally earmarked for the Higher Home Park office and retail development.
It means the plans for the derelict land have in effect been flipped. The ice rink was due to go at the bottom end of the site, with offices and restaurants near the Life Centre.
Now it is the other way around after the land at the lower end was sold by the club’s former chairman James Brent to Plymouth Argyle.
So the club could, if it wants, build some retail and offices on the land, or even leave it as the car park it is currently being used for.
Meanwhile, Business Live now understands talks are at an advanced stage between interested parties, such as construction firms and potential operators, with a view to starting work on the ice arena as soon as possible.
Mr Bent was unable to speak about the ice rink plan as it is commercially sensitive, but, with a nine-month build period, it is understood that there is a desire for the rink to be in situ before then end of 2020, which would fulfil Mr Brent’s vow to have it open during the Mayflower 400 year.
It would be a tight construction turnaround, but can be done, and if it is achieved Mr Brent would be free to work on further developments, including shutting the ice rink at the Pavilions site in Plymouth city centre and redeveloping that patch of land.
When one of Mr Brent’s companies bought the Pavilions site from Plymouth City Council in 2012 one stipulation was he had to provide a new ice rink for the city.
Building it at land his firm owns at Home Park enables the future development of the Pavilions site, which could feature hotels or even a cinema.
But it is understood that the preference would be to plough on with further development of the HomePark area before the Pavilions site sees diggers move in.
However, Mr Brent’s firm has recently changed its plans for the Western Gateway site, which is on land adjacent to Outland Road and next to where the ice rink would go.
It had been planned to construct two office blocks, a range of different sized restaurants, a gym and a 116-bed hotel, plus lots of car parking, on that land.
But now it is hoped a reserved matters application will gain approval and the plan can be altered to increase the size of the hotel to 156 bedrooms and ditch the office units.
The restaurants, gym and car parking would stay, and the existing veterinary surgery would be accommodated too.
It is understood that development could be delivered in the first three months of 2021, as both Western Gateway and the ice arena are considered to be fairly straightforward builds.
The 1,500-seater ice arena has been described by Mr Brent in the past as a “big shed”, with a build period of about six months, and then a three-month fit-out.
In 2018 Mr Brent told Plymouth Live: “The ice rink is really important to have open by 2020. It’s a much simpler build – it’s effectively a big shed.”
In 2017, Mr Brent said the total redevelopment of the Higher Home Park and Western Gateway site could cost £30million.
