THING OF THE WEEK

SACRILEGE… Manchester United is reportedly considering selling the naming rights to its Old Trafford stadium. Such a move could raise the hackles of football traditionalists and put a few fans offside at a time when INEOS is making its presence felt after acquiring a stake in the club earlier this year.

But as water cascading through the stadium’s East Stand roof during a game beset by heavy rain last season saw the legendary ‘Theatre of Dreams’ dubbed the ‘Theatre of Streams’ by rival fans, a bar might already have been set for an unwanted moniker. Some will not care what it is called – as long as the roof does its job and the stadium is maintained.

Although, the big question is – who would you sell it to? Aviva, Co-Op, AJ Bell, and Etihad are clearly off-limits. Perhaps a Manchester-based brand would be fitting. Boohoo Stadium anyone? Might seem apt given the team’s recent performance (FA Cup final excluded).

Whisky & Water officially opens today. Credit: via Bill Elms

SHOW ME THE WAY… The next whisky bar is in Liverpool’s Blackstock Market. Whisky & Water opens its doors today, boasting 320 different Scotch, whiskies, and bourbons. While you’re sipping your Old Fashioned, best give a wall a knock or two – there are supposedly two secret rooms at the venue, one of which is a jazz bar. Sounds like the bee’s knees to us.

No citizens were bribed into praising the park on Thursday. Credit: PNW

PARK PRAISE… Stockport Council’s director of place Paul Richards was kind enough to take Place on a tour of the town this week. Having strolled past the gleaming offices of Stockport Exchange and down the plant-flanked path that swoops from the station down to the recently refurbished Interchange, we found ourselves in town’s brand-new park.

The green space sits atop the revamped bus station and connects to Wellington Road North, providing a seamless link between the retail core and the town’s transport nodes that was hitherto much trickier to navigate.

As we meandered through the park, we bumped into an elderly lady enjoying the sunshine on her way for coffee with friends at the nearby Hat Works. Spotting an opportunity for some market research, Richards asked her what she thought and was pleased with what he heard. Such was the lady’s enthusiasm for the green space, Richards was forced to insist that he had never met her before.

Studio John Bridge provided the architectural drawings of the phone boxes to help the city council get listed building consent to restore them. Credit: Studio John Bridge

OLD BECOMES NEW… Preston’s line of red phone boxes outside the old post office are getting a makeover. The grade two-listed telephone boxes are all set to be restored – a move that will then make them suitable for artist installations. We’re digging Studio John Bridge’s mock up here, where one is stuffed with plants and another has a projection that makes it look bigger on the inside. The projects admission that phone boxes are no longer necessary has us thinking – what staple of society today will be viewed as cute but obsolete in the future? We’ve got our money on post boxes – and perhaps bus stops too if Uber ever takes over the world. Sorry, Andy Bee.

Can you imagine Tithebarn Street without the superlambanana? Credit: Phil Nash from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA bit.ly/3RrkSAN via Wikimedia Commons

APPEALING LEASES… The superlambanana will not be evicted from its home on Tithebarn Street anytime soon. The artwork by Taro Chiezo has been part of the fabric of Liverpool since 1998. Now, it can stick around until December 2027 at the very least. That’s thanks to a new lease agreement between Liverpool City Council and Liverpool John Moores University, which owns the land the superlambanana sits on. So how much does a superlambanana pay in rent? More than £1,200 for the total time, it turns out.