Franklin's Gardens is a purpose-built rugby stadium in Northampton, England. It is the home stadium of Northampton Saints. The stadium holds 13,591 people. The stadium also has 40 corporate boxes. Each can hold from 8 to 24 people. The four stands are: Tetleys Stand; Burrda Stand; Church's Stand; and Sturtridge Pavilion. It is also a Northampton conference centre as well as the only UK Aviva Premiership Rugby ground with its own cenotaph, the setting for a moving ceremony every Remembrance Weekend.
The Northampton board announced in May 2009 that they would be applying to increase stadium capacity to 17,000 with the redevelopment of the North Stand. This would be funded by an investment by supermarket chain Asda, who would build a new store on the land currently used as training pitches. The new ASDA would represent a £40million investment in the St James area of Northampton and it has been claimed that this would also create up to 400 new jobs. However, it is unclear how many jobs would be lost in existing businesses in the town if the out-of-town retail development was to take place.
Read more about Franklin's Gardens: The History of The Gardens, Location
Famous quotes containing the words franklin and/or gardens:
“At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“If I could put my woods in song,
And tell what’s there enjoyed,
All men would to my gardens throng,
And leave the cities void.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)