After months of heavy duty structural construction work, the roof was placed atop the new €59 million stand on Wednesday at the Laya Arena in the grounds of the Royal Dublin Society’s (RDS) campus in Ballsbridge.
The focus now shifts to fitting out the three-storey stand internally and installing 6,775 seats in time for it to debut on August 5th for the first day of the Dublin Horse Show.
“There’s a very busy construction schedule ahead,” RDS chief executive Paul Kelly told The Irish Times. “We’re moving into a phase where there will be a huge amount of work going on that’s not very visible because it’s internal.
“There’s a huge amount that still needs to be done but we’re on budget and we’re on schedule and we’re very excited that we’ll have it open for the horse show.”
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He said the new stand would provide a “much better experience” for spectators while the addition of modern hospitality suites “increases the attractiveness” of the venue for promoters because there are increased opportunities to “sell higher-value tickets” and “give attendees a better experience”.
[ RDS members bridle at instruction to use Laya Arena name for showgroundsOpens in new window ]
The stadium will be known as the Laya Arena under a 10-year deal agreed with the health insurer, while Leinster rugby has signed a 25-year agreement to use it for home games. Leinster will return to hosting matches at the stadium in September.
Kelly said the new structure was funded by a €15 million grant from the State’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund, with the Immigrant Investor Programme providing between €10 million and €12 million, and the balance coming from the RDS.
Following the redevelopment, the capacity of the stadium for rugby matches increases to 20,500. For concerts, the arena will have a capacity of 38,000.
The roof hosts a solar energy system, and infrastructure for rainwater harvesting has also been put in place. The stand has 57 wheelchair spaces and 52 accessible seats for people with mobility issues.
