Stand’s doubled in price
spent on the final-phase second floor of the stand, which is due to go ahead later this year.
That would take the total spending on the Tynecastle Redevelopment Fund project to a staggering £22.5m – close to double the initial budget for the ambitious project.
However, Budge won’t give the go ahead for the final phase until all the money is in place for the nine-month process .
Once completed, it will provide Hearts with the potential to explore new revenue streams through hospitality and commercial ventures.
Fans’ group Foundation of Hearts and unnamed benefactors have been key in providing capital for the construction in the face of soaring costs.
They will again be pivotal for the latest phase after Hearts finance director Jacqui Duncan revealed the full cost of the new stand, which was opened in November 2017.
Budge said: “We still have one more floor of the main stand to finish and we have looked at several different plans, covering several different uses.
“The option I believe we will go with is ready for me to press the button on but we need to ensure that we have the money because we don’t spend what we don’t have.
“It is important we finish it to the same standard and quality as we have done for the rest of the stand.
“I would have liked to have pressed the button in January but, with everything else that has gone on, I can’t see that happening much before the end of the season.
“But hopefully during 2020 we’ll have the second floor finished and that will be another major source of income for us.”