I am pretty confident that it has been said that the club owns the actual stands, as it goes back to when the fans helped fundraise etc. for the building of them. The Malkinsons only own the premises on which they're situated I think.
Either way, I don't know much about these things but surely we wouldn't be able to transport the stands? Anyway, I am sure the Chestnuts will ensure that costs are kept to a minimum, and I can imagine that the seats at least would be used as part of a new ground. There will be lots of ways we can save money. If we could transport whole stands I would only take the Main Stand and Town End anyway. It's a long way away yet though, and I should imagine that if anyone can do this ground move successfully it is our Board. I say have faith, and if we do whatever they ask of us it should go to (an expensive) plan!
Well thats good, if the Malkies owned them they'd be cashing in on the structural steelwork!
The stands consist of 3 main structural elements; foundations, steel frame, and the pre-cast concrete units.
Its all bolted together like meccano. The frame is bolted down to the foundations, and then the concrete units are lifted into place and bolted up. The rest of it is a bit of insitu concrete followed by whatever blockwork you need for burger bar etc. Thats your basic structure...there's no reason why it can't be taken down in the reverse order, obviously you wouldn't be transporting the foundations anywhere.
A`structural engineer would soon tell you if it was possible to get it past the planners etc, the bolted connections would probably need strengthening, and the framework itself might need beefing up in places to meet current legislation.
Benton Bros could do a deal on a couple of lorries
You'd have to do the new foundations, then take the Townend and Spayne in the first year. The main stand would go the following year, leaving the York Street stand as a memorial to the old place.
Some of the grounds in this division are pretty poor, so it could be possible (if we are still in the unibond) to have a season at york street without the Townend and the Spayne
what a mind boggling thought!