Nya Gamla Ullevi

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Nya Gamla Ullevi
"Fotbollsarenan"
(working titles)
nickname =


caption = Rendering of Nya Gamla Ullevi.
location = Gothenburg, Sweden
coordinates = coord|57|42|22|N|11|58|50|E
broke_ground = 9 January 2007
built = Spring 2007–30 November 2008
opened = Spring 2009 (planned)
owner = Gothenburg Municipality
operator = Municipal company in cooperation with tenant clubscite web |title=Våra arenor & anläggningar - Övriga anläggningar |publisher=Got Event |date=N/A |url=http://www.ullevi.se/arenafakta/OVRIGA.asp |accessdate=2007-05-04]
surface = Grass
construction_cost = 335 million SEK (estimated)
architect = Lars Iwdal (Arkitektbyrån)
project_manager = Jan-Åke Johansson (Higabgruppen)
main_contractors = Higabgruppen
tenants = GAIS (2009–)
IFK Göteborg (2009–)
Örgryte IS (2009–)
Sweden women's national football team (2009–)
seating_capacity = 18,800, of which 15,000 are sitting (2,400 on a combined sitting/standing terrace) and are 3,800 standing
dimensions = Unknown, possibly 105 x 68 m as on old stadiumThe original plan was to save the pitch of the old stadium—as it was one of the best pitches in Sweden—by digging it up in large pieces, storing them while the new stadium was built and them replant and use as the pitch on Nya Gamla Ullevi, but that was not done. cite news |last=Wagner |first=Michael |title=Gräsmattan räddas när Gamla Ullevi rivs |publisher=Aftonbladet |date=2005-12-02 |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/rss/story/0,2789,740207,00.html |accessdate=2007-05-06]

Nya Gamla Ullevi is a temporary name for a football stadium currently under construction in Gothenburg, Sweden. The name means "New Old Ullevi" and is a play on the name of the two current main stadiums of the city, Gamla Ullevi and (Nya) Ullevi. However the contractor, Higabgruppen, uses another name for the project, which is "Fotbollsarenan" ("The Football Arena"). Nya Gamla Ullevi is to replace Gamla Ullevi as the home arena for three Gothenburg clubs, GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS, as well as becoming the national stadium for the Sweden women's national football team. The new stadium is built on the ground of the now demolished old stadium.

History

The three clubs of the Gothenburg Alliance ("Göteborgsalliansen")—GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS—played the majority of their matches on Gamla Ullevi from its inauguration in 1916 until the newer Ullevi stadium was completed in 1958 for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. From that year most matches where played on the large stadium with a capacity of over 40,000, but as the attendance numbers decreased in the 1980s and early 1990s, and in connection with the removal of the terraces, calls for a move back to the old stadium was heard. After a renovation, Gamla Ullevi was from 1992 once again the home of the Alliance clubs.cite book |last=Jönsson |first=Ingemar (ed.) |coauthors=Josephson, Åke (ed.) |title=IFK Göteborg 1904-2004: en hundraårig blåvit historia genom elva epoker |publisher=IFK Göteborg |date=2004 |location=Göteborg |id=ISBN 91-631-4659-2]

But playing on a stadium built almost 100 years ago was not ideal, lacking in service capacity, security, and architecture, the terraces having poles obscuring the view for the audience. Propositions for a modernisation of either of the two Ullevi stadiums, or construction of a new stadium were revealed in April 2002. Four different plans were presented; construction of movable seating on the short ends of Ullevi, two different ideas for renovation and expansion of Gamla Ullevi, or to demolish Gamla Ullevi and construct a new arena on that site.cite news |last=Svedberg |first=Tomas |title=Andra arenaförslag under årens lopp |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2005-04-08 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.193130 |accessdate=2007-05-04]

Other propositions in 2002 and 2003 included building a new stadium in Mölndal, a neighbour municipality of Gothenburg, a new stadium built on the site of the old stadium Valhalla IP, located between Ullevi and Scandinavium, and a third suggestion wanted to demolish Gamla Ullevi and move all football activities to the larger Ullevi which would be rebuilt to a dome arena, with a rotatable pitch that would move it closer to the seats for regular season matches.

Another plan was revealed in January 2005, and proposed a giant sport complex on the site of Valhalla IP, having both a football stadium (28,000 seats) with a retractable roof and an ice hockey arena (12,000 seats) built wall to wall, sharing several components such as pubs and restaurants. The cost was calculated to 700 million SEK, and the complex would be owned by the three football clubs and the largest hockey club in the city, Frölunda HC.cite news |last=Zetterström |first=Åke |title=Sveriges nya superarena |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2005-01-13 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.165699 |accessdate=2007-05-05]

Decision

The proposition that was decided to be used was to demolish Gamla Ullevi and to build a new stadium on the grounds of the old. Municipal commissioner Göran Johansson presented his plan for the new football stadium at the site of Gamla Ullevi—and the idea to make it the national stadium for the women's national team—to the contractor Higabgruppen, and in early 2005 architect Lars Iwdal got a confidential assignment from Higabgruppen to create a first sketch of the new stadium.cite news |first=Curt |last=Magnusson |title=Alingsåsaren bakom Göteborgs nya fotbollsarena |publisher=Alingsås Tidning |page=32 |date=2007-04-18] Lars Iwdal said in a newspaper interview that

The Gothenburg Alliance had their annual meeting on 6 April 2005 and the board decided to support the plan,cite news |author=GT.se |title=Gamla Ullevi rivs - ny specialarena byggs |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2005-04-07 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.192788 |accessdate=2007-05-05] and on the 9 April the municipal board of Gothenburg arranged a press conference to show the plans.cite news |author=TT/GT.se |title=Så här blir "Nya Gamla Ullevi" |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2005-04-11 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.193938 |accessdate=2007-05-04] The new stadium, inspired amongst others by NRGi Park in Aarhus, Aalborg Stadion in Aalborg and mainly Brøndby Stadion in Copenhagen,cite news |last=Kjäll |first=Andreas |title=Konsten att bygga helt fel |publisher=Fotbollsguiden |pages=36–41 |date=nr 35, 2007] was to have a capacity of 16,000–18,000 and have open corners; the construction cost was estimated to 180 million SEK for the stadium and a total of 240 million SEK including commercial areas in and around it.

The debate in the media following the press conference was mostly about the open corners, if the surface should be grass or artificial turf, and what the name of the stadium should be. The contractor, Higabgruppen, were reluctant to close the corners of the stadium, claiming a very tight budget and possible growth problems for the grass if that was chosen as surface. The original plan was to demolish Gamla Ullevi after the 2005 season, and to open the new stadium at the beginning of the 2007 season, but the plan was delayed and Gamla Ullevi was not torn down in 2005.

Instead, new plans called for the demolishing of the old stadium a few matchdays before the end of the 2006 season on 1 October 2006,cite news |last=Niklasson |first=Ulf |title=Så blir nya Gamla Ullevi |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2006-02-01 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=256415 |accessdate=2007-05-04] but paperwork once again postponed the start and the demolishing of the old stadium started several months later on 9 January 2007. This also delayed the construction which was planned to be finished for the start of the 2008 season in April, but the new schedule indicated that the stadium would not be finished until the autumn of 2008, probably around September or October. As the Swedish football season ends in late October or early November, it was decided that the few matches left of the season would not be played on the new stadium, and that the official opening would not take place until the start of the 2009 season.cite news |last=Balkander |first=Mattias |title=Allianslag inviger arenan - 2009 |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2007-03-27 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=335716 |accessdate=2007-05-04] cite news |last=Leman |first=Henrik |title=Nya fotbollsarenan dröjer till 2009? |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2007-03-22 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.605545 |accessdate=2007-05-04]

Construction

The final plan of the stadium and its facilities was settled in December 2006 and included several improvements compared to the early plans presented in 2005. The total budget of 240 million SEK that was said to have been very tight had been increased to 270 million SEK, which amongst several additions allowed for the construction of closed corners. The original plans aimed for a capacity of 17,800 divided on 14,000 seats—of which 2,400 seats can be transformed to terraces if needed—and a terrace capacity of 3,800. The stadium was also planned to feature two large tv screens and 2,500 m² of commercial space and a 900 m² lounge with 18 private boxes.cite web |title="Fotbollsarenan" - Korta fakta |publisher=Higabgruppen |date=N/A |url=http://www.higab.se/fotbollsarenan/default.asp?link=26-192-613 |accessdate=2007-05-06] cite news |author=GT.se |title=Följ arenabygget på GT.se |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-01-07 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.994391/folj-arenabygget-pa-gt.se |accessdate=2008-09-27]

There will be no retractable roof—only roof over the stands—as the cost for that alone would be 300 million SEK, more than the original projected cost of the whole stadium itself, but there is a possibility to build such in the future if there is need for it. Nya Gamla Ullevi will also have natural grass on the pitch since the stadium will host matches of the 2009 European U-21 Championship, where all matches must be played on grass. As with a retractable roof, there is a possibility to change to artificial turf in the future. There are also some concerns that the natural grass may not grow very well since the closed corners and high stand prevent wind and sun to reach the pitch.cite news |author=TT |title=Rivningen av Gamla Ullevi igång |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2007-01-09 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=318111 |accessdate=2007-05-04]

During construction, two of the clubs which previously had Gamla Ullevi as their home stadium, GAIS and IFK Göteborg, will play at the much larger Ullevi stadium, while the third club of the Alliance, Örgryte IS, will play on Valhalla IP. It was originally said that Nya Gamla Ullevi would be officially opened with a match played between an Alliance team—featuring players from the three Alliance clubs just like when Gamla Ullevi was reopened in 1992—and the Sweden national team or a European top club. Later it was proposed that the women's national team might play the opening match, with an Alliance team playing a second opening match.cite news |last=Olofsson |first=Carina |title=Damerna kan inviga nya arenan |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2008-09-24 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=447108 |accessdate=2008-09-27] Nya Gamla Ullevi will be only the second Swedish top league stadium built since 1966, after Borås Arena that was opened in 2005.cite news |author=SVT.se |title=Allsvenska arenorna pensionsmässiga |publisher=Sveriges Television |date=2005-04-05 |url=http://www.svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=21425&a=360937 |accessdate=2007-05-07]

The construction proceeded as planned and work on the foundations was finished by January 2008 according to the project manager Jan-Åke Johansson from Higabgruppen. He also stated that the stadium's walls and roof would be finished by August 2008—except for the southwestern corner which would remain open a bit longer to allow construction vehicles and cranes to move in and out—and that only interior work would be left to do at that point.cite news |last=Jörnvik |first=Ulf |title=En ny arena är på väg... |publisher=IFK Göteborg |date=2008-01-15 |url=http://www.ifkgoteborg.se/portal/page?_pageid=113,64758&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&element_id=3790270 |accessdate=2008-01-18] The calculated cost for the stadium had at the same time risen to at least 335 million SEK excluding commercial areas and possibly even more than that when finished in 2009. Compared to the 180 million SEK which was the calculated cost for the original plans, the newer and somewhat modified plans have increased the cost by 86 percent.cite news |last=Niklasson |first=Ulf |title=Nya fotbollsarenan spräcker kalkylerna |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2008-01-17 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=395512 |accessdate=2008-01-18] cite news |last=Syrén |first=Michael |title=Chockad över kostnaderna |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-01-22 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1015235/chockad-over-kostnaderna |accessdate=2008-09-27]

Some of the original specifications have changed over the time as well, the 900 m² lounge was expanded to 1,100 m² and nine additional private boxes were added to the original 18. Even the capacity has changed, as it was discovered during the installation of the seats—coloured light green and grey, a somewhat controversial decision given the colours of the three clubs that will be playing on the stadiumcite news |author=SVT.se |title=Stolsfärgen klurig fråga på nygamla Ullevi |publisher=Sveriges Television |date=2008-04-07 |url=http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=34007&a=1106807 |accessdate=2008-09-27] —that more than planned could be fitted, which would allow room for another 1,000 seated spectators and thus extending the capacity to 18,800.cite news |last=Olsson |first=Marcus |title=Arenan större än tänkt |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2008-09-26 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=447816 |accessdate=2008-09-27] The construction work has not seen any major complications and the stadium is planned to be completed by 30 November 2008.

Controversy

The whole decision-making process, including the design and cost of the stadium, has been heavily criticised, both by supporters,cite news |last=Hult |first=Andreas |title=Änglarna dömer ut ståplatsläktaren |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2006-11-29 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.476931 |accessdate=2007-05-07] cite news |last=Strandberg |first=Sofia |title="Stoppa rivningen av Gamla Ullevi" |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2006-12-08 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.486129 |accessdate=2007-05-07] media and the political opposition in Gothenburg.cite news |last=Kristiansson |first=Thomas |title=Gamla Ullevi rivs redan i höst |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2005-04-06 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=209815 |accessdate=2007-05-07] cite news |last=Hansson |first=Bo |coauthors=Johansson, Martin |title=Hallberg kräver större insyn i arenabygget |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2008-01-18 |url=http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=395797 |accessdate=2008-09-27] Points of criticism include the big mystery making and hastiness around the decision, the lack of visions including the tight and low budget, and the involvement of too much politics in the process. Some of the criticism was answered as the budget was slightly raised to allow closed corners, but several points were never discussed. One such example includes that the main inspiration was Brøndby Stadion, a stadium that now is undergoing an overhaul as the commercial areas were deemed insufficient.

Football expert and former editor of the football magazine Offside, Mattias Göransson, called the stadium an "amateur construction" which would lead to future conflicts, mentioning amongst other things the lack of restaurants, office space and parking garage.cite news |last=Syrén |first=Michael |title=Dömer ut nya arenan |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-01-21 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1012955/domer-ut-nya-arenan |accessdate=2008-09-27] The current chairman, Anders Almgren, of the largest supporters' association in Gothenburg—Supporterklubben Änglarna supporting IFK Göteborg—wrote in a column that

Stadium name

The name that was used at the first press conference about the new stadium was Nya Gamla Ullevi, but it was also said that it was only a temporary name and that the final name of the stadium would not likely include the word "Ullevi"—which already has been used on two stadiums, (Nya) Ullevi and Gamla Ullevi—as it would possibly be even more confusing than before. An early name discussed was Gunnar Grens Arena, named after Gunnar Gren, one of the best Swedish footballers in history and a player that played for all three of the Alliance clubs, and who has already been honoured with a statue outside the old stadium. Other suggestions include Victoria Arena and Gothia Arena,cite news |last=Karlsson |first=Kenneth |title=Ingen vill döpa nya arenan |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2006-10-24 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.447046 |accessdate=2007-05-07] but the clubs are willing to sell the name of the stadium to a company to generate an extra source of income.cite news |last=Pettersson |first=Magnus |title=Klubbarna vill sälja |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2007-04-28 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.657309 |accessdate=2007-05-07]

Another alternative that has been discussed and which has gained support by all sides—ruling politicians, politicians in opposition, involved organisations and the general publiccite news |last=Lundgren |first=Åke |title=Sture Allén insparkad i sista stund |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-09-09 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1294231/sture-allen-insparkad-i-sista-stund |accessdate=2008-09-27] —as time has passed is to let the new stadium take over Ullevi's name, and in turn rename that stadium to something else, possibly including "Göteborg", "Gothia" or "Gothenburg" in the name.cite news |last=Niklasson |first=Ulf |title=... och namnet kan bli - Ullevi |publisher=Göteborgs-Posten |date=2008-01-17 |url=http://gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=128&a=395513 |accessdate=2008-01-18] cite news |last=Lundgren |first=Åke |title=Namnet blir Ullevi |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-05-20 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1167458/namnet-blir-ullevi |accessdate=2008-09-27] On 8 September 2008, the final decision on the naming of the stadium was given to Sture Allén—member and former secretary of the Swedish Academy and retired professor in computational linguistics—in cooperation with the municipal naming committee.cite news |last=Lundgren |first=Åke |coauthors=Mattsson, Anna |title=Han ska namnge Göteborgs nya arena |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-09-08 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1293208/han-ska-namnge-goteborgs-nya-arena |accessdate=2008-09-27] Their decision was presented on 1 October 2008 and supports the idea of naming the stadium Gamla Ullevi, the name used by the demolished stadium formerly located on the same place.cite news |last=Sprangers |first=Jan |title=Nya namnförslaget: "Gamla Ullevi!" |publisher=Göteborgs-Tidningen |date=2008-10-01 |url=http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1319152/nya-namnforslaget-gamla-ullevi |accessdate=2008-10-01]

See also

*Borås Arena
*Nya Kalmar Arena
*Swedbank Stadion
*Swedbank Arena, Solna

References

External links

* [http://www.higab.se/fotbollsarenan/ Higabgruppen - "Fotbollsarenan"] sv icon
* [http://www.higab.se/fotbollsarenan/default.asp?link=26-188-605 Higabgruppen - webcam at the construction site]