Redevelopment
The new stand at Ravenhill was officially opened on 9 October 2009 by First Minister Peter Robinson, before a match between Ulster and Bath Rugby. The stand has however been in use since the first home match of the 2009-2010 season, against Edinburgh Rugby.
The stand is on the Mount Merrion side of the ground, and consists of a terraced area, over 500 premium seats, and 20 corporate boxes. Premium seats were delivered by Polish brand Forum Seating belonging to Nowy Styl Group. The terrace area is now covered by a roof for the first time in the ground's history. The cost of the project is approximately £4.5 million, and has been funded by a mixture of public-sector funding, sales of premium tickets and boxes, and loans from the IRFU.
In 2011, the Northern Ireland Executive announced that it had granted £138m for various stadium redevelopment projects throughout Northern Ireland. Ulster Rugby will receive approximately £14.5m of this, which will be used to redevelop Ravenhill and expand its capacity to around 18,000.
In 2012, Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, Sports Minister, Caral Ni Chuilin, Ulster Rugby Chairman, Shane Logan and Chairman of Sport NI, Dominic Walsh all confirmed that three new stands will be built at Ravenhill, with work expected to commence at late 2012. The existing stands at the Memorial and Aquinas ends of the ground will be redesigned and the main stand will be demolished and rebuilt. The major refurbishment is expected to be completed in 2015.
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