The Hydro

Do we really need another venue in Glasgow?


Apparently the answer is yes, we do!

And that's where The Hydro comes in. The Hydro Arena will be Scotland's newest entertainment venue, catering to music, sport, comedy and much more. The currently under construction venue will seat up to 12,000  and is set to take in an audience of 1 million per year.

The Hydro under construction, March 2012

Whilst walking past the construction site recently, I decided the foundations resembled that of a football (or other sports) stadium. The round structure and rapidly raised seating shows the extent to which they want to fit in as many people as they can.

I took to the streets to find out the publics opinions on the new venue.

Matt, 23 says

I don't understand why they're putting it so close to the SECC. It's already an inconvenient location for people who don't know Glasgow and the car park system is a nightmare. 

Hilda, 63 had a more positive outlook on the new Arena

The Commonwealth Games are coming in 2014 and I think everyone's excited at the prospect of a brand new venue for them. They can't expect to hold something as prestigious as the Games in the Kelvin Hall or the SECC can they?

As Matt pointed out, the Arena is being built within extremely close proximity to the SECC. However, is this really a bad thing? Yes and No. It could be disastrous for Glasgow public transport if there were to be an event in both venues on the same day. Also, as there are very little bus/train routes that go near the Queen's Dock, this could cause congestion during Commonwealth time. The positives that could come of this however is a boost of economy in the area. We may start to see other developments in the area, residential and commercial, and I certainly hope Glasgow City Council boost the transport available to the area.

Due to open in 2013, you can visit the official website here.

The 'Armadillo' (left) with Scotland's newest venue, The Hydro. Expected View of Queens Dock