Grolsch Veste
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| Grolsch Veste | |
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| Location | Enschede, Netherlands |
| Broke ground | January 31, 1997 |
| Opened | May 10, 1998 |
| Expanded | September 2008 |
| Owner | FC Twente |
| Operator | FC Twente |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | 33 million guilders 50 million euro (expansion) |
| Architect | IAA Architecten |
| Structural engineer | VolkerWessels |
| Tenants | FC Twente (Eredivisie) 1998 - present |
| Capacity | 13,250 |
The Grolsch Veste (Grolsch Fortress, previously known as the Arke Stadion) is the official stadium of football club FC Twente. It is located in Enschede, Netherlands, at the Business & Science Park, near the University of Twente. It has a spectator capacity of 13,250 with a standard pitch heating system and has a promenade instead of fences around the stands.
The Grolsch Veste replaced the old Diekman Stadion as FC Twente's home ground on 22 March 1998. Plans had been afoot to expand and to renovate the old and now demolished Diekman Stadion, however, with a growing fan capacity and with arguments that the location of the Diekman stadium was not strategic enough, the idea was conceived to build a new arena for the FC Twente fans. The Diekman ground had also faced problems with its seating plans as a result of the FIFA regulations which imposes a necessity to construct a seating tribune behind each goal post.
The cost of the construction was estimated to be around 33 million guilders and took fourteen months to complete, with its foundation stone having been laid on 31 January 1997. Due to the tight budget available, the layout of the stadium was constructed in such a way that future expansions can be possible without the necessity to tear down entire tribunes.
The first match played at the stadium was a historic 3-0 victory by the home team against PSV on 10 May 1998 in an Eredivisie match.
On 1st October 2006, the stadium got updated with two big flatscreen video-walls.
[edit] Expansion
In 2006 plans were unfolded to increase the stadium capacity to 24,353 seats. The expansion started in January 2008 and is expected to be ready in September 2008, at the start of the new season. There are also serious ideas to expand the stadium even further to 40,000 spectators.
In May 2008 it has been announced that the Arke Stadion will be renamed to Grolsch Veste (Grolsch Fortress) with beer brewery Grolsch as sponsor. The brewery is located in FC Twente hometown Enschede.
[edit] External link
Official website (Including webcam)
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