Bristol Arena

Bristol Arena
Artist's impression of the proposed Bristol Arena
Location	Bath Road Bristol
Coordinates	51°26′47″N 2°34′42″W / 51.446358°N 2.578288°W / 51.446358; -2.578288
Capacity	12,000

Bristol Arena is a proposed indoor arena in Bristol. With the opening of the First Direct Arena in Leeds in the summer of 2013, Bristol became the largest city in the United Kingdom without a large arena-style venue. As of late 2013, Bristol's two largest music venues were Colston Hall and the O2 Academy, which hold 2,000 people each.

History

Plans for Bristol Arena were announced in March 2003. The arena, to be built next to Bristol's largest railway station Temple Meads, was planned to have 10,000 seats and host music concerts as well as sports and conferences, and was planned to open by 2008 to coincide with the city's bid to be the European Capital of Culture.^[1] In June 2007, work had yet to begin on the arena despite around £13 million spent to purchase and clear the site.^[2] In late 2007, the plans were abandoned after developers announced that £40 million of public sector money would be required to fund the arena in addition to the £46m that had already been committed by Bristol City Council and the South West of England Regional Development Agency.^[3]

By 2009, plans for Bristol Arena were back on the agenda with two plans put forward. One plan, similar to plans for the site next to Temple Meads, supported by future mayor George Ferguson.^[4] The other plan, supported by the Bristol City Council, was to build an arena next to Bristol City's proposed stadium at Ashton Vale.^[5] A number of legal challenges^{[citation needed]} to Bristol City's proposed stadium caused the Bristol City Council to reconsider plans for an arena on the originally preferred site next to Temple Meads in 2012.^[6]

Once elected mayor, architect George Ferguson launched a competition to find the best design for a 12,000 seat arena that would be "the most environmentally-friendly venue of its kind" and pledged that the project would be up and running within four years.^[7] This was followed by a bid to win £80 million from the government's Regional Growth Fund to partially fund the project and pay for renovations at Colston Hall, which ultimately proved unsuccessful.^[8][9]

References