I’ve been sat in it for the past 15 years, as have many others for longer and shorter periods of time, so not sure it would be classed as a “waste of space”personally.
It’s not fit for purpose no matter what it’s built out of , it doesn’t have to be a mega construction to replace it , use North for home fans , relocate Directors to that 64 club area above disabled stand so they can get proper abuse from Ponte up close when things are going wrong , away fans in part of new stand
Not really…. How often does Oakwell need its 100% capacity nowadays/ever? And it’s not a waste of space if it offers some capacity at a fraction of the cost of demolishing and rebuild….
So….. half of it isn’t a waste of space then by that definition?! End of the day, I like it, I like the fact that we don’t have an identikit stadium, where people see embarrassment, I see history and heritage, when people want expansion, I see an empty North stand. It’s just an opinion, you’re entitled to say waste of space, I’m entitled to disagree.
Interesting question re 'Heritage Status' - I'm not sure of the difference between a Listed building/structure and a building/structure that has a Preservation Order on it. Mr C perhaps you can help out here. Anyone can apply for any building to be 'Listed' or 'Preserved' - it doesn't have to be the owner - if that happens no one can do anything for at least 6 months until an assessment has been done. Some buildings have to be 'Preserved' or 'Listed' because a part of them is of historical or architectural interest - (there's an old country house in N Yorks has to be preserved because the internal door frames are of historical interest.)
It could be used - the club choses not to use it due to the fact its not full and its saves money to only open half of it - some money would need to be spent to open it fully again and new bogs built but it could be used again if it was needed. I bet if we had been promoted it would have been in use