Nelms and chairman Tim Keyes have been at Dens Park for 11 years and one of their goals since the American duo took over the club was to build a new stadium for the first team.
Land was purchased near Camperdown Park, but there have been several false starts during his tenure regarding the project. Nelms, however, hopes that work can begin in the not-too-distant future.
“We have a hearing in January for the stadium and we will push to get there as soon as possible,” Nelms said. “Sometimes my schedules are a little optimistic, but my job is to push and push until we get the job done. We’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“Realistically, it will be at least one more season at Dens. I would like to potentially have some test events at the stadium before we have it ready for the fans. That way, when the fans come in, it will be a relatively smooth operation.
“At one point, we were ahead in terms of building a new stadium; now we are behind. It’s the system and how the system works. It’s not the people.
“As frustrating as it is, I think with a little patience we will create the organization and have it for the city for the next 100 years.”
Nelms says leaving Dens Park will be a pain for many fans, but it is necessary for the club to move forward.
“Dundee is our spiritual home and it will be difficult to move away from Dens Park,” he added.
“It’s not something we take lightly and we know how much it means to the fans, but we’re in the entertainment business and we’re trying to implement 21st century entertainment in a 19th century building. It’s very difficult.”
