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After 6 years, the HCST Board has decided to reinitiate the Anlaby Road Tribute Project (know as the A.R.T. Project).
At every home match thousands of Hull City fans and visiting supporters walk to and from the KC Stadium along the walkway that leads from Argyle Street, perhaps without realising that they are passing within a short distance of Hull City AFC’s original football ground.
Hull City’s early matches were played at the Boulevard but by March 1906 a permanent ground was established adjacent to the Cricket Circle off Anlaby Road.
Hull City Supporters’ Trust is determined to recognise this important era of the club’s heritage by commissioning a piece of public art and recovering the last standing remains of the ground before it is lost forever. The aim of the project is to commemorate the old ground and to act as a celebration of the thousands of our ancestors who adopted Hull City as their club over the past 120 years.
Sadly, with other distractions in and around the club, we were unable to incorporate the project as part of the “Hull 2017″ – City of Culture but we hope that, with the relaunch of the project, we can save an important part of the club’s heritage.
Update – November 2023
We’re pleased to report that it’s been another productive period for the Anlaby Road Tribute (ART) project. Contact was made with Historic England via its York office. It has since been learned of a number of past football related heritage projects which bodes well for the ART project, including Bradford Park Avenue, Bootham Crescent (York), the Ramstrust at Derby County and discovering the original Hampden in Glasgow.
Historic England put us in touch with the director of Humber Field Archaeology, who has since visited the Railway Triangle to assess whether digs for artefacts is a possibility. He considered that the former ground is worthy of a series of trial digs in 2024. The publicity of an archaeological exploration of what remains of the Anlaby Road ground can only add credibility to and generate positive publicity for the ART project.
Contact with the Bishop Burton College led us to Wold Ecology whose principal is a long term City supporter with a professional history of the Railway Triangle. He is keen to support the project as a report on the fauna and flora to be found in the location may be necessary at the planning stage.
A mix of six civil engineering and ground clearance contractors have been approached to submit tenders for the removal of vegetation, the exposure of the terracing, making good the concrete support, installation of security fencing and footpaths including lighting.
The Lonsdale Community Centre, has confirmed that the referendum to bring into effect the Newington Neighbourhood Plan was successfully voted on by residents, which paves the way to get all interested parties in West Park (including the Railway Triangle & Stadium) around the table. The ART Project will qualify the Trust to be an invitee.
The latest development is a very encouraging meeting between the Trust’s lead project directors and the Leader of the Hull City Council, who offered to instigate a clearance of litter and general detritus around the specific area of the project. He also confirmed the authority’s support for the project in principle.
A long term supporter who is a practicing architect has recently offered his support for the ART Project. His expertise will be exceptionally helpful.
It is hoped an eventual successful grant application to the National Heritage Lottery Fund will enable the project to get underway during 2024 which also sees Hull City commencing its celebration of the club’s 120th Anniversary of its establishment.
Update – October 2023
Following the relaunch of the project, several key supporters and possible suppliers have been engaged. Discussions have been held with Nick Turner, a local author of Hull City’s early history, Peter Naylor, a local sculptor, a local drone photography company, as well as a local ground clearance company. Several visits were made to the site to assess possibilities and help in the more detailed planning and costing of the project. A meeting with the leader of Hull City Council has been scheduled for November to discuss the project in more detail.
Update – September 2017
Following work with The Lord Mayors Centenary Plaques Panel and interest shown by Hull City Council and the Newington Community Group there is now a collective will to move forward with the project. At the September HCST Board meeting a Sub Group was established to take on the feasibility study and proposals.
Update – December 2015
In total we received thirteen suggestions for a new name for the project, including three very thoughtful alternatives from Sean Moore. Two of Sean’s offerings, The A.R.T. Project (Anlaby Road Tigers) and Project R.O.A.R. (Recollections of Anlaby Road) were shortlisted, with the former being preferred by the sub-committee made up of the Project Manager, a Public Relations Practitioner and two of the Trust’s Directors.
The full Board were inspired by Sean’s suggestion and have, with one minor tweak, accepted it.
We thus hope Sean will not be offended if we substitute “Tigers” for “Tribute”, maintaining the acronym and the main thrust of his suggestion – The A.R.T. Project (Anlaby Road Tribute). Sean’s contribution will be acknowledged in the publication which will be a record of the project’s progress. Sean’s suggestion will now be adopted up and until such time that the artist is appointed and has the privilege of naming his or her own artwork.
Update – November 2015
Since our last update the following suggestions for snappy project names have come in from our shareholders- The Circle Complete; Our Home at Home; Full Circle; City at the Circle; Project Circle; The Circle Project; Circle Past; Completing the Circle and Don’t have a snappy name.
It’s not too late to enter a name. See above for how to do so.
Meanwhile the draft artist brief is now to hand. The subsequent process will be as follows:-
2016
January Advertise the brief to artists
March Shortlist and Interview (3 artists)
May Public Exhibition of artists’ proposals and their models
June Selection of the best proposal
July – Dec Fundraising in earnest!
2017
January Commission the artwork
July/August Official Unveiling
One of the key aims of the HCST is to preserve, protect and develop the identity and community of Hull City AFC, an aim embodied in the Trust’s strap line – “Ambition & Tradition”. Whilst honouring the past, the Trust is actively looking to the future in a spirit of celebration and excitement. This project has been born from these aims and the desire to enable supporters and members of the public to celebrate the heritage of the football club through the commemoration of the site of the first home of Hull City AFC.
We will look to agree the artist brief before the end of the year and this will trigger the formal launch in the New Year to coincide with the brief being advertised for artists to respond with expressions of interest.
A selection of artists will then be interviewed in the spring of 2016 in order to draw up a short list of three.
These artists will then be tasked with working up their ideas including the production of a maquette,
or working model, as well as providing costings for the production and installation of finished piece.
The proposal is to place the models on public display and this is when Hull City supporters and the
general public will have the opportunity of commenting on what they like best of all three
submissions.
2016 is set to be a defining year for the project as efforts to raise the necessary finance via
sponsorship, crowd funding and grants will be crucial in securing its success with the projected
unveiling of the completed artwork planned for the start of the 2017/18 season and thereby
contributing to the year of City of Culture 2017.
The Anlaby Road Football Ground Project is a bit of a mouthful (to say the least) so we would now like you to suggest a short snappy description which the project can adopt. (We intend to produce a booklet detailing the project from inception to installation. Whoever comes up with the best name will be acknowledged in the booklet.) Please forward your suggestions to contact@hullcityst.com by 30 November.
For more information, contact us at contact@hullcityst.com.
Image from Britain from Above: http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw036552