Boston United to extend stay at York Street while Quadrant building continues

The Pilgrims were supposed to end their tenure at the York Street ground in January 2018, but as the Pilgrims continue to finalise funding for their new Quadrant community stadium, they have been allowed to extend their stay at the ground they have called home since 1933.

However, the club are yet to announce just how long the lease has been extended for.

In a statement released on the club’s website, chairman David Newton said: “As many are aware, the lease on the current Jakemans Stadium at York Street was due to expire in January 2018.

“I am pleased to say that a new lease has been put in place which will give us a little more time to deliver the new stadium and meet League and FA requirements.

“We are extremely grateful to Andrew, Stephen and Christopher Malkinson for their help and support in this matter.

“All through the discussions they made it absolutely clear that they did not wish to do anything that would harm the football club in any way and we are delighted that the Malkinson family legacy with Boston United continues.

“We remain on track to leave the club in a new stadium, and at the heart of the community in accordance with our promise that we gave the fans almost 10 years ago, however we will need your help and will let everyone know the extent of that ‘help’ as soon as we can.”

The Quadrant developments plans to deliver a football stadium, community sports facilities, 500 houses and retail units.

Mr Newton explained that more time was needed to build the stadium due to rise in costs.

He continued: “Of keen interest to Boston United fans is the construction of the new Community Stadium.

“We are still in the process of finalising costs.

“Unfortunately, we have hit a period where both costs of labour and materials have risen significantly over the past two years.

“We still wish to build the stadium in its entirety, but worse case it will have to be phased.

“Once costs have been bottomed out, we will seek help from fans and local businesses in trying to close any shortfall in costs and we will continue to look for additional funding from external sources.

“It is still our aim at the present time to deliver the whole stadium at the outset, if at all possible.

“Not only do we need to bottom out the costs, but we also need to make sure the funds are there to pay the build costs.

“The bulk of money is coming from The Quadrant development and those funds will only be generated as houses are built and land is sold.

“I am pleased to say that we have had considerable interest in the retail/leisure sites and a number are now going through the legal process.

“We are close to securing finance for the construction of the Community Stadium, which will allow construction to press ahead, with the finance being repaid as The Quadrant development progresses.

“It was always going to be a challenge to deliver a new stadium for a club that has no assets and until relatively recently was insolvent, but we are making good progress and I am still happy that construction will start this year.”

Updating on current buikding work, Mr Newton added: “We are delighted that The Quadrant development is taking shape after 14 years of planning.

“The roundabout on the A16 is complete, as is the first section of distributor road; the stadium access road and the road leading to the first three commercial sites.

“Construction is planned to start on the housing in April.

“Thank you for your ongoing support.”