Leicester City To Open Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden

- Club to mark anniversary of late Chairman’s passing with opening of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden
- The garden will be situated on the site of the October 2018 helicopter accident at King Power Stadium
- The site will be open to the public on 27 October following a private ceremony
- Floral tributes left following last year’s accident to support the garden’s growth

Sunday 27 October, 2019 will mark one year since the helicopter accident that claimed the lives of the late Leicester City Chairman, staff members Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai, and pilots Eric Swaffer and Izabela Lechowicz outside King Power Stadium.

And on that date, the Club will officially open the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden – a carefully developed, peaceful space, designed to protect the scene of the accident and form a permanent tribute to those so tragically lost a year ago.

The Club will host a private, multi-faith ceremony on Sunday 27 October, before gates open to the public from 2pm. The garden will be open to the public during daylight hours thereafter. For the garden’s opening day (27 October), complimentary refreshments will be served via the East Stand concourses between 2pm and 5pm.

The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Garden – an all-season garden including flowers and features of significance to Khun Vichai and the Srivaddhanaprabha family – will carefully safeguard the site of the accident in the south-east corner of the King Power Stadium site. All floral tributes left since the accident will be composted and used to support the growth and development of the new planting scheme within the garden.

It remains the Club’s intention to ensure that all material tributes left during that time - an irreplaceable assortment of gifts, shirts, scarves, flags and personal mementos, which have been preserved and appropriately stored – will be incorporated into the planned redevelopment and expansion of King Power Stadium.

In a continuation of the community spirit that defined the response to the events of last October, the build process will include a number of opportunities for supporters to contribute to the creation of the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden. These opportunities will be at carefully designated times before 27 October, communicated through LCFC.com and the Club’s social media channels.

Leicester City Chief Executive Susan Whelan said: “Appropriate and respectful management of the accident site is something to which we have given great consideration over the last 12 months. Supporters and visitors have shown impeccable respect during our immediate efforts to protect it and we are now in a position to confirm our permanent intentions for the site.

“From the scene of a tragedy, we aim to build something peaceful, something poignant and something beautiful, where supporters of today and of future generations can remember what one man’s vision did for this Club, this community.

“The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden will be the latest in a series of lasting tributes that will form part of Khun Vichai’s legacy.”

The Club’s multi-faith ceremony on Sunday 27 October will be a private occasion for Club staff only. Supporters and the general public are welcome to visit the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Memorial Garden from 2pm and during daylight hours thereafter. Parking will be available on Car Park E (accessible off Raw Dykes Road) throughout the day.

Plans for a continuation of the Club’s Remembrance Garden, located in the south west corner of the King Power Stadium site, are to be incorporated into the wider plans for the expansion of King Power Stadium. Supporters who have enquired about internments and plaques in this space will be kept informed of future plans as they develop.