Out with 'old' and in with the 'new'

Station Park was a hive of activity on Sunday morning when the Directors aided by a most appreciated band of volunteers removed all the fixtures and fittings from the four hospitality cabins prior to the demolition men moving in on Tuesday.

The buildings concerned an old oil storage depot office and a hospital ward recovered from the old Whitehills Hospital when it was being demolished have served the club well over a fair number of years with thousands of patrons over time enjoying the Station Park Hospitality experience.

Though perhaps not the most salubrious in the Scottish game they have served a purpose with rarely a complaint from the paying public and have over the years added greatly to the match day experience and of course been a great boost to the club’s finances.

This season alone the sell out sign has been posted at all 18 home league games as well as cup ties against Rangers, East Fife and St. Johnstone.

It is anticipated that the site will be cleared by Friday of this week, with the contractors due early next week to begin the preparation work for the purpose built new unit, the anticipated completion and handover date in late June.

The new unit will comprise a sponsors lounge and four hospitality lounges all seating up to 12 people on a match day, although as was the case in the old unit, two of the lounges can be used as one room to accommodate twenty plus.

There will also be a bar/function area which will comfortably host over 50 patrons and again for any function outwith a match day, the sponsors lounge can open up giving this area a substantially increased capacity.

The Directors will in time be releasing details of match day opening times, half time hospitality costs etc for this new venture which will hopefully bring a new dimension to a visit to Station Park whether on a Saturday afternoon or for pre-planned midweek fund raising functions.

Certainly it is hoped that original outlay which is being funded without any loan facility and has been well supported in recent weeks by local businesses following a series of presentations will bring financial security to the club for many years to come.

Finally although the area to the north of the main stand will obviously resemble a building site by the end of the week, it would no way stop the club hosting a play off semi-final on Wednesday night of next week, if a trio of results went our way this coming Saturday. Security fencing is scheduled to be erected as a matter of course before the week is out.

Following Saturday’s superb performance against Ayr United, the ‘Loons’ Players, Officials and hopefully a fair smattering of supporters will make the 370 mile round trip to Stranraer in hope that and at times remarkable season can be extended further with a performance and result of similar ‘vintage’ to that achieved against the ‘Honest Men.’

The tightness of the league however is summed up by the fact that if results do go our way, despite the recent disappointing run of results which came to an end on Saturday, Dick Campbell’s side could finish in the coveted fourth spot, yet there is another scenario where if we lose out to the Stair Park outfit and Brechin City and Airdrie win, we would finish in eighth position in the final table.

Quite remarkable.