Stadium designer Dan Meis made an emotional return to the city this weekend to visit Goodison Park and the site of Everton’s new £500m stadium.
The American architect was a special guest for the Blues’ Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
And Meis also took time out to check on the progress at Bramley-Moore Dock, home to the Club’s ambitious new 52,888 capacity stadium on Merseyside’s historic waterfront.
The Colorado-born developer, who recently re-joined the project, told evertonfc.com: “It’s really great to be back.
“I haven’t been in a lot of stadiums for the past couple of years, but this is the one to be back at, for sure.”
Meis was responsible for creating the designs for the Club's new stadium before officially leaving the project last year, at the natural end of his role as designer.
But the 60-year-old, who has since been re-engaged in a stadium guardianship role to oversee the technical aspect of the build, was delighted to be back on the site last weekend for a flying visit.
“I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back on the project,” beamed Meis.
“Everyone knows how important this has been for me for the past couple of years, so to come back and see the stadium under construction is just unbelievable.
“I went down there before visiting Goodison and saw the construction going on and the dock buildings being removed, which I hadn’t seen before, so it looks real now.
“I think there were a lot of people who thought it would never happen and it’s a long process in the best of cases, especially this one, because it’s a difficult site and there are a lot of obstacles to overcome to build a building on a dock.
“It’s just incredible to see the work taking place and I am sure everyone is now starting to believe!”
Work already under way at Bramley-Moore Dock includes the infilling of the dock itself, with sand dredged from the Irish Sea, while early piling on the dockside is providing some of the foundations for the steelwork.
That work is expected to continue over the coming months, before the infilled dock then forms the base for work to begin above ground.
Meis added: “When I look at it, I see it in my mind’s eye, because I know how big it’s going to be.
“That’s sometimes a shocking thing to people because the difference between the renderings and the actual scale of it is quite something.
“So, standing there and seeing the site cleared and imagining the height of the building gives you goosebumps.”
Watch out for a blog by Dan later here on evertonfc.com later this week, discussing the build process and the pressure involved in replacing Goodison Park.
