Excitingly, work has also started on the second tier of The County Durham stand and with work set to finish in time for the start of the 2009 season. The work on both stands will increase our capacity by 1550 taking the number of permanent seats above 8500 and will allow Riverside to sell up to 17500 seats for international fixtures in 2009, when taking into account the temporary provision.
Work has just started at Gate 3, between the pavilion and Bannatynes, to install our first permanent replay screen at the ground. This screen, which is an essential requirement for a Test Match ground, will act as a second scoreboard at all matches and will offer replay facilities at key fixtures throughout the season and again should be completed by the start of the coming season.
Regular photographs of how the development is progressing over the coming weeks will be posted on the website.
A planning application for the development of the rest of the ground was submitted by the Club early in the New Year incorporating a permanent seating capacity of 20000, permanent floodlights, a second replay screen, a Gateway Building and Hotel. Once the planning permission has been granted it is expected that work on the next phase of development would begin at the end of the 2009 season. Work at this time is also likely to include significant enhancement of the drainage of the playing area.