Hearts have been granted planning permission for their new £12m main stand following a public hearing at Edinburgh council.
Preparation work for the demolition of the old stand could begin next month and construction of the new 7,290-capacity structure is scheduled to begin before the end of the year and be completed by September 2017.
The original stand, the last reminder of a previous era in Gorgie, was designed by noted football stadium architect Archibald Leitch and completed in 1919.
The three other stands - Gorgie, Wheatfield and Roseburn - were modernised between 1994 and 1997 and once the latest development phase is completed the ground's capacity will increase by 2,570 to 20,100.
Hearts owner Ann Budge said that supporters group Foundation of Hearts and other benefactors will provide half the funding with the bulk of the rest of the finance provided by the club itself.
She told the Evening News: "We have managed the club carefully over the last two years so we also have a reasonably healthy bank balance.
"There is a small funding gap and we have a number of plans afoot, which we will now accelerate to fill that gap. The funding is very largely in place."