Bigger And Better
The fans got their answer as to how the money from the Cup would be spent, as the board announced that The Cooking Pot will be remodelled at a cost of just below S$2.1 million, which is basically the total takings from the final itself. After long consultation with outside experts, it was determined that the stadium was not living up to its earning potential, with surveys showing that potential attendees were staying away due to the lack of covered seats.
It was therefore decided to more than double the number of grandstand places, from 9600 to 19860, which will be achieved by extending the roof. At the same time, ten additional private VIP boxes will be constructed, five on either side, bringing the total in that class from 2200 to 2440. Finally, a special ultra-exclusive commemorative box, the Birds' Nest, is planned at the highest point in The Pot, where the main television cameras had been placed; with an official capacity of eleven, it is reserved for former players and coaches, and their guests.
While some of the additional capacity will be achieved with slightly tighter spacing and a few extra rows, 2380 normal seats will still have to be removed, and others repositioned, eating into the terraces, which will now contain at most 55780, down from 59900. After all is said and done, The Cooking Pot will gain a net 4011 seats, for a final official size of 100011.
This will increase the maximum possible profit from a single game from near S$1.6 million to over S$1.875 million, and while neither figure has been met for some time, the finance department is projecting that the additional covered seats will recover this investment in a season or so, if all goes well; this happens to be first sprucing-up of The Pot for thirty-one long seasons.
"We are looking at S$38 a ticket for the grandstand, so even if only 75% of the new seats are bought, that's S$300000 extra, each and every home game." principal consultant Lionel Henry Zhang-Davidson of McHay Associates proclaimed. "Maintenance will rise by about S$60000 a month, but compared to the gains, it is obvious that this development can only be to the long-term benefit of our clients."
As to why 100011 seats, the glossy project brochure had a short section on how it represents 35 in binary, which in turn alluded to Grilled's three Cups and five former icons, a contrived explanation that nobody appeared to take seriously.
What is true, though, is that this figure is smack between the last known maximum capacities of Herron Arena (100027) and Hattrick all the time (100001), a fact that was perhaps read too deeply into by some online parties. Other than that, it means that the Birds will have what is probably the second largest stadium in Jurong, inching past Robbie Football Club's 100000, and behind only Heaven Skys' 125000-seater regular Cup semifinal venue Arch Angel.
Construction is expected to be completed a few days before the season-ending blockbuster against -= Manchester United =-, which will serve as a fitting curtain-raiser for the new and improved The Cooking Pot.
