The case for a Belfast City Centre National Sports Stadium…

Chris McCracken is the Managing Director of The Linen Quarter Business Improvement District

Debates around Casement Park rumble on. The current location has huge emotional resonance as home to GAA Games since 1953. However, surrounded by packed residential streets, it presents significant challenges, not least parking, noise, and concerns around emergency access. There has been opposition from some within the local community, including a successful judicial review in 2014.

The cost of trying to deliver a larger Casement in such a challenging area never stacked, and it has now been accepted there should be a significant scaling back on original plans. However, the revised capacity no longer meets the ambition of hosting major championships. Is it now the time to consider delivering a flagship stadium project in an alternative way?

A smaller Casement does not remove the need for Northern Ireland to have a larger national sports stadium. In fact, it makes the case stronger. Casement can still serve its community and sporting purpose in West Belfast, but a new national stadium – available for all sports – can meet the wider regional need of a venue capable of hosting major events. Some have recently proposed sites along the M1 or at the former Maze site for such a stadium, but these significantly lose out on a major driver of success – a city centre location.

The Principality Stadium, based in the very centre of Cardiff, is a placemaking masterpiece. It has delivered huge social and cultural benefits, and an economic return of £100m per year. Not bad for a Stadium costing £121m when constructed in 1999 (approximately £268m today). A similar opportunity could be created for Belfast at the Grosvenor. Specifically, the area bound by Grosvenor Road, Durham Street and Willow Street.

Interestingly the Principality Stadium, which measures 222m x 181m, would fit this space. The area would need to be cleared for development, but most of the footprint is surface car parking, with the remainder low-level office buildings, warehousing, and a partially used police station. Its capital value, if redeveloped, would exceed purchase cost, positioning the stadium as a catalyst for Belfast’s continued growth.

The advantages of this site are significant. It enhances walkability and sits immediately adjacent to Belfast Grand Central Station – the largest transport hub on the island. This ease of access is important for sport fans, as well as the music, entertainment and conference events it could host.

Visitor experience is important. The national stadium will include cultural and heritage elements, including a new national sporting museum, which will deliver footfall all year round and not just for big events. By bringing the Stadium into the heart of Belfast a wider audience, including millions of overseas tourists, will have the opportunity to engage in this offering, directly supporting hotels, restaurants, bars, and the wider economy. Anyone visiting Cardiff on a match day will be impressed by how vibrant the city centre becomes, filling bars, restaurants and hotels to capacity.

LQ BID exists to create a city that makes sense. We have two major gaps in our architecture – a national sports stadium and a sports museum that highlights Northern Ireland’s amazing successes in multiple fields. These two objectives could be combined within one city centre location creating an inspiring new venue big enough for major sporting, music and cultural events and commercially powerful enough to deliver economic benefit for the region.

The Principality Stadium has delivered almost £3 billion of economic benefit since its construction, and it has become a cultural icon for Wales. If Cardiff can do it, why not Belfast too?