 THIS is the picture that proves that the new Anfield dream is to become reality. Parts of Stanley park have been fenced off for preparatory work on Liverpool’s 60,000 seater stadium. It includes digging boreholes to check ground conditions in the park, a few hundred yards from the existing ground. Compounds for the storage of equipment are also being set up, according to community leaders. The club and Liverpool council are keen to get off to the best possible start with the £215m project because of the funding situation. A chunk of taxpayers’ money granted to the overall scheme, which will be used to improve the area around the new stadium, must be spent by the end of next year. When the Reds were taken over by American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks at the beginning of last month, they said the ground had to be underway within 60 days. The club and council are now working together to complete legal and planning issues, and hope to start on site this spring. Anfield councillor Kiron Reid said: “The fact that the council’s parks team is happy for this preparatory work to start is clear evidence that the stadium is going to be built. “Most Anfield residents just want this project to get under way. They know a new playground is being put in at the moment, but they also want the park to be restored and the entire regeneration package.” The restoration of Stanley park will be one of the largest schemes of its type in the country, and will see bridges, walls, pavilions, the park lodge and the Isla Gladstone conservatory brought back to their former glory.
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