Chelsea Football Club have made an official bid to buy the iconic Battersea Power Station and turn it into a 60,000 seater stadium.
What do supporters need to know about their potential new home south of the river?
1) The power station was built in the 1930s as a ‘super-station’ to provide electricity to homes across London.
2) It was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the same man who designed the iconic red telephone box.
3) Battersea Power Station is the largest brick building in Europe.
4) It was originally smaller than it is now, with two chimneys. The second two were added as part of a ‘B’ station in the 1950s.
5) It carried on as one of London’s most important electricity hubs, before being decommissioned in 1983.
6) Despite never finding a permanent purpose it has become a much-loved landmark, visible to hundreds of thousands of Londoners every day, and it has Grade II listed building status, meaning designated parts of it, including the powers, have been preserved.
7) In 1983 after it’s closure it was bought by the company who own Alton Towers. They started plans on converting it into a theme park, but gave up on the project when costs spiralled out of control.
8) It has been subject several planning schemes in recent years, involving building new homes and a shopping centre on the site, but all have run into financial or logistical difficulty.
9) In 1977 it appeared on the cover of Pink Floyd’s album, Animals.
10) It is often used as a temporary venue for events to raise cash, including snowboarding, television shows, and by the Red Bull X-Fighters.
Watch the X-Fighters session taking place at the power station.
Would you like Chelsea to build a new station in Battersea? Is it a good idea?
image: © _gee_
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