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In [[1990–91 Port Vale F.C. season|summer 1990]], 3,750 yellow and white seats were fitted in the Railway Paddock, and 1,121 seats were added to the upper tier of the Bycars End.<ref name="Kent5">{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Jeff|title=The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale|publisher=Witan Books|year=1990|pages=258–290|chapter=From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)|isbn=0-9508981-4-7}}</ref> The Bycars End roof was also removed for safety reasons, whilst a police box was constructed between the Railway Paddock and the Hamil End.<ref name="Kent5" /> The paddock at the front of the Railway Stand was later made into an all-seated area, with just the Lorne Street side left as a standing area. Vale fans stood for the last time on Lorne Street at the end of the [[1997–98 Port Vale F.C. season|1997–98]] season, with the stand being demolished before work began on a new £3 million structure. Work has yet to be finished on this, due to lack of finances and a change in ownership of the club. Despite the building work remaining uncompleted, the work done on the stadium under [[Bill Bell (businessman)|Bill Bell]] from 1985 had vastly improved the ground, as proven by the fact that [[sheep]] were once housed in the Railway Paddock toilets and allowed to graze on the pitch in the night; the toilets were notoriously unhygienic, and were replaced under [[Bill Bratt]]'s reign in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|last=Baggaley|first=Michael|title=Dear Mr Ryder, the fans need to know your plans|newspaper=[[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]]|date=14 April 2012}}</ref>
The Valiant 2001 Charter stated that Bratt's management team would invest £400,000 to install under-soil heating in mid-2002, and to also quickly complete the Lorne Street stand.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://valiant2001.com/ |title=Valiant 2001 Charter|work=web.archive.org|access-date=6 January 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20011002155210/http://valiant2001.com/ |archive-date = 2 October 2001}}</ref> However it took until 2020 for the seats to be installed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baggaley |first1=Michael |title=Seats installed in Lorne Street - and Port Vale reveal other ground improvements |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/seats-installed-lorne-street-port-4032942 |access-date=9 April 2020 |work=Stoke Sentinel |date=8 April 2020}}</ref> Chairman [[Norman Smurthwaite]] separated Vale Park from Port Vale after taking the club out of [[Administration (British football)|administration]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=Port Vale: Valiants should get 25-year lease on Vale Park if Norman Smurthwaite sells|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/port-vale-valiants-25-year-lease-vale-park-norman/story-26695336-detail/story.html|access-date=3 May 2017|work=Stoke Sentinel|date=14 June 2015}}</ref> New high-tech floodlights were fitted in March 2019, paid for by the club's shirt sponsor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baggaley |first1=Michael |title=Port Vale to unveil new lights at Vale Park |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/port-vale-unveil-new-lights-2626157 |access-date=10 March 2019 |work=Stoke Sentinel |date=9 March 2019}}</ref> The stadium's ownership was returned to the club after Smurthwaite sold the club to [[Carol Shanahan|Carol]] and Kevin Shanahan in May 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Port Vale: Norman Smurthwaite sells League Two club to Carol & Kevin Shanahan |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48188086 |access-date=9 May 2019 |work=BBC Sport |date=7 May 2019}}</ref> Five months later it was declared an "asset of community value status" by Stoke-on-Trent city council.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fielding |first1=Rob |title=Port Vale's stadium secured for the future after special status acquired |url=https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2019/11/port-vales-stadium-secured-for-the-future-after-special-status-acquired/ |access-date=5 June 2020 |work=onevalefan.co.uk |date=29 November 2019}}</ref> The Shanahans spent £500,000 on ground improvement by summer 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baggaley |first1=Michael |title=Port Vale's £500,000 investment in Vale Park |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/port-vale-ground-improvements-500-5450860 |access-date=24 May 2021 |work=StokeonTrentLive |date=2021-05-24 |language=en}}</ref>
==Structure and facilities==
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