Credit crunch hits HKS' Liverpool FC stadium
- Published: 29 August 2008 11:30
- Author: Richard Vaughan
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- Last Updated: 29 August 2008 11:48
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Liverpool Football Club's new £350 million stadium, designed by HKS Architects, will be delayed 'in the short term' due to 'global market conditions'.
The news follows mounting newspaper reports suggesting Liverpool's American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are finding it increasingly difficult to raise the funds needed for the next stage of the new Anfield development.
A Liverpool FC spokesman told the Liverpool Daily Post: 'Our commitment to building a new world class LFC stadium is undiminished.
'Like many other major development projects in the UK and overseas, we are affected by global market conditions.'
The spokesman also revealed that the club will be using the time to 'revisit plans for the stadium to increase its capacity to 73,000 seats'.
Liverpool's proposal for a 60,000-seat stadium was given the green light in May this year and work had started on clearing the site in June.
The news caps a bad week for the owners, who found out on Thursday (28 August) that they had lost £5 million in European Union grants, which was earmarked for the regeneration of Anfield.
Due to delays the money has had to be withdrawn and re-allocated elsewhere, meaning the whole stadium cost will have to be met by the club.
