My earliest memory of St James’ Park was walking up the narrow cobbled street opposite the Strawberry before being amazed by the brutalist concrete East Stand with its rippled concrete columns supporting the giant cantilever roof.
Incidentally, Faulkner Browns Architects used the rippling concrete effect to “soften” the brutalism.
Personally, I think it does the opposite.
Instead of clean smooth lines we have bites taken out, not just brutal but rough. Awe inspiring architecture to an eight year old.
The beautiful Georgian buildings adjacent were nowhere near as impressive. The city centre was full of classical sandstone buildings with much greater gravitas.
Into the East stand paddock with my equally young best mate and my older brothers, avoiding the boot boys on the streets outside. Intimidated by the teenage boys in those days but looking back they were simply fifteen year old lads with Bay City Roller haircuts.
The East Stand is now the oldest part of the ground and the Twentieth Century Society have their eyes on it because of the reasons just stated.
Back in 1997, the proposed 70,000 seater stadium plans for Castle Leazes were abandoned and a redevelopment of St James’ Park was completed instead. completed in ahead of the 2000-2001 season. One reason was the 36,000 name petition against it, which included conservation issues.
Three decades later later the debate continues, stay and redevelop or build a new stadium?
We all know that a new stadium is required, one fit for purpose so we can try and keep up with the other big Premier League clubs.
Ideally built on the adjacent Leazes Park. Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, made positive noises a while back about a possible new ground. The new Prime Minister and self-styled king of the North, Andy Burnham, claims to want to re-energise the North.
This is the perfect moment for the Newcastle United owners to pitch their vision for investment in the North-East through the building of a brand new stadium and in so doing let the new PM flex his muscles as the man of the people.
The catch is, the 19th century public space that is Leazes Park was created for the well being of the citizens of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
How about this as a solution. The Newcastle United owners have St James’ Park demolished but the East stand retained as a sort of twentieth century version of the Victorian bandstand. The area around turned into a new cutting edge 21st Century public space for the people of Newcastle to enjoy with arts and cultural events staged, akin to Shakespeare in the park which is an annual summer occurrence in London.
Newcastle United get a new stadium, the people of Newcastle get a new cultural space not designed on two hundred year old sensibilities and the Twentieth Century society are happy they have maintained a unique piece of architecture.
The politicians of course can claim the credit for all this. Is Chi Onwurah MP (A Newcastle United fan whose constituency includes St James’ Park) a reader of the Mag I wonder?