THE fantastic new Reebok Stadium has been chosen as the futuristic setting for the Antiques Roadshow.

The popular BBC TV programme is scheduled to be recorded at Wanderers' new home in November - the first example of the £35 million building operating as a multi-purpose facility.

Fans of the popular and fascinating long-running series, hosted by Hugh Scully, will see antiques and family heirlooms identified and valued by experts in the state-of-the-art surroundings of the 32,000 sq ft exhibition hall on the ground floor of the East Stand.

The hall, which can also host sports or musical events, is one of a number of features of the 25,000-capacity Reebok - the most expensive new stadium to be built in Britain - which is destined to become a venue of national importance.

Conference, banqueting and commercial sections of the ground will ensure that, although the major player by far, football will not be the only attraction.

An extra-large corner tunnel, affording easy access for the emergency services, will also allow giant lorries carrying tons of equipment to drive straight into the stadium when rock concerts are staged.

Designers appear to have thought of everything (including a syphonic system to suck rainwater off the huge stand roofs) and ensured that practically every inch of space on each of the four levels of the impressive stadium will be utilised from the end of August.

That's when Wanderers chairman Gordon Hargreaves has confidently predicted the ground will be ready for football.

Looking at the mountain of work still facing the 500-strong workforce, there are some who may have their doubts. But skirting boards and door frames are in place and plasterers are hard at work in the labyrinth of offices under the main West Stand, suggesting the contractors, Birse, are on the last lap of their race against time.

Wanderers knew they faced a tight schedule when the first sod was cut on the old Red Moss site in November 1995. The pitch was quickly laid to allow for two growing seasons and work on the stadium structure started in April 1996. The first steel girder was only erected in September of last year.

When the diamond-shaped tops were lowered into place last weekend, taking the floodlight gantries to a towering 180 ft, Mr Hargreaves described them as the "last pieces of the jigsaw".

Even in its unfinished state, the spectacular stadium - an impressive focal point of the £200 million Middlebrook leisure, retail and business park - is sure to be a winner in the design league.

There are showers and individual baths - no communal plunge - by order of FIFA, who cite Aids-awareness, and governing body guidelines mean separate changing rooms being built for female officials and separate tunnels for opposing teams.

But areas such as the warm-up room, where players can kick about to their hearts' content (no windows of course!), are of little concern to the ordinary fan.

What does matter is that the proud boast of stadium chief executive Paul Fletcher that there isn't a bad seat in the house stands the test.

The view from the back row of the top tier of the West Stand is truly spectacular and leg room above and beyond FIFA recommendations offers levels of comfort to match any and beat most in the country.

With eight weeks to go to the start of the season, time is getting tight but the excitement is mounting.

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