Sheffield’s Town Hall is gorgeous — and slowly falling apart

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

We open today with deeply concerning news just in of a stabbing at a Sheffield high school. Police cars and the Air Ambulance have been seen at All Saints Catholic School on Granville Road. A statement from South Yorkshire Police reads: “Following a stabbing at a school in Sheffield, a teenage boy has been detained by police and our officers are on scene. 

“At 12.17pm today (Monday, February 3) we received reports of a stabbing at All Saints Catholic High School on Granville Road in Sheffield. A 15-year-old boy is in hospital with serious injuries. His family is aware. Emergency services are on scene and the school grounds currently remain closed.”

This incident comes only a few days after the school was locked down due to threats of violence between students. Our thoughts are with all those affected, and we’ll keep you up to date this week as we hear more.

Our main story today looks at the current state of the Town Hall. One of Sheffield’s premium buildings, it needs a major cash injection to deal with big risks including fire safety and Legionella. We also have some bad news about a much-loved Sheffield festival, a talk about the history of tea, and a lovely home in Woodseats.

In case you missed it

On Saturday, Dan stayed up way past his bedtime to discover how creativity is surviving amid the cost of living crisis. From Sidney and Matilda to the Dorothy Pax, and Delicious Clam to Gut Level, Sheffield has some brilliant grassroots music venues, but many of them are finding it increasingly difficult to survive. You can read that piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our more than 2,500 paying members. In the first Dan did another one of our popular writers’ editions in which our journalists tell readers about themselves. As well as his continuing recovery from a hip replacement, he used the opportunity to ask the most important question of all: why can you no longer get good falafel in Sheffield city centre. And in the second, Victoria dug into a long-running row at the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, an organisation best known for looking after moths, moss and moorhens, over unionisation. An extract from that second piece is below.

But, like an adorable badger infected with tuberculosis, the cuddly nature of the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust belies how embittered this struggle became. “I got the impression the union was taken as an attack on the leadership of the trust,” says 28-year-old David Botcherby, whose employment at the trust ended last month, “but I don’t think that’s how most people in the union saw it.” Another former employee, who resigned before the union was recognised and asked to remain anonymous, claims tension from the months of unsuccessful negotiations eventually bled out into the wider workplace. “Definitely both sides had a little bit of a needle against each other,” they say, “which did affect how people were engaging with the work.

The big picture: The Year of the Snake 🐍

Thousands of people came to Sheffield city centre on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate Chinese New Year. Attractions included an acrobatic lion dance, more than 1,000 Chinese lanterns, interactive Chinese Zodiac statues, a dragon dance and parade, live performances and music, and food stalls. Pictured is a Bian Lian (face-changing) performer by Tim Dennell.

The big story: Sheffield’s Town Hall is gorgeous — and slowly falling apart

Top line: A roadmap for the restoration, refurbishment, and long-term sustainability of Sheffield Town Hall has been approved by councillors. Sheffield Council say the “one-time cost-effective civic restoration” could cost up to £50 million. How will it be funded?

History: The building was opened in 1897 by Queen Victoria and is one of only five Grade I listed buildings in Sheffield alongside Sheffield Cathedral, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and the churches of St Nicholas in High Bradfield and St Mary’s in Ecclesfield.

• While the building remains “structurally sound”, the council says it requires investment to ensure its continued use and preservation as a Grade I listed heritage asset.
• Sheffield Council leader Tom Hunt said the building has played a “pivotal role in the lives of Sheffield residents”, but after 125 years was “beginning to show its age”.

That might be a bit of an understatement. Already, the basement and floors four and five are out of use due to fire safety and accessibility issues. And the report notes that if nothing is done, “this heritage asset will continue to deteriorate and there is a significant risk that further parts of the building will be closed ultimately leading to full building closure.”

What needs doing? A feasibility study in 2022 concluded that the Town Hall required “major repair works to address the severe compliance, defects and backlog maintenance issues to improve building efficiencies, preserve historic and heritage features, and prevent further deterioration”. Last month the BBC reported that the feasibility study found systems in the building were "aged, inefficient, muddled or defunct" and that there were also serious risks including fire safety, Legionella from water supplies, no ventilation in the council chamber and leaks from an old large diesel tank. Immediate action has already been taken on fire safety, they added.

The cost: The council say estimated costs for the work range from £20 million to £50 million. The lowest cost option would provide for localised repairs and basic operational building compliance, while the basement, floor 4 and 5 would remain out of use. The highest cost option would achieve building compliance, renew end of life elements, bring redundant floors back into use and provide a light touch refurbishment.

Deck the Halls: Sheffield isn’t the only northern city having to patch up an ageing Victorian town hall. Across the UK, there are currently five restorations underway in what has been dubbed "The Great British Town Hall Revival".

• The restoration of Manchester Town Hall began in 2020 and is scheduled to be finished by July 2026, two years after it was due to be completed. Originally meant to cost £325 million, it has already gone over budget by £29 million. Manchester City Council found the money through long-term borrowing.
• Rochdale Town Hall cost a more manageable £20 million, £8.3 million of which came from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, while the £89 million restoration of Hammersmith Town Hall was funded via a 50:50 joint development with the developer.

Not just the Town Hall: Many council-owned buildings in Sheffield are in a state of disrepair. A Freedom of Information request lodged by Now Then in 2022 revealed that council-owned buildings needed £78 million spending on them just to maintain them, with a further £185m of costs expected within five years, including £42.6m for the Town Hall. This included more than £8m for urgent and overdue maintenance work on Sheffield Central Library, which is currently surrounded by an exclusion zone after masonry started falling from the roof.

Bottom line: The sums of money involved are eye-watering, especially for a council which, by its own acknowledgement, is financially strained. But what other choice do we have? As council leader Tom Hunt said, Sheffield Town Hall is more than just a building, it is a symbol of our city’s heritage and democracy. Hopefully the council will be able to access some funding from heritage bodies to make the cost burden a little bit easier for the taxpayers of Sheffield to bear.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

Stagnant Sheffield? 🏭 It’s not often that Sheffield gets a big piece in the national press, and less often still that The Sunday Telegraph is the one to do it. The piece is ostensibly about the city’s struggles post deindustrialisation, but it ends up being more about UK-wide inequality rather than Sheffield specific issues. The story does contain some interesting snippets, like the fact that a third of the jobs in Sheffield are publicly funded (either in public administration, health or education) but overall it feels like typical national newspaper fayre: helicopter-ing into a place with little knowledge of what’s going on there. For better reporting, insight and analysis, stick with The Tribune.

Sharrow no more 🎸 A popular local music festival will not go ahead this year after failing to raise the £20,000 it needed, organisers have said. Sharrow Festival has been taking place at Mount Pleasant Park since 1996, but increasing costs and missing out on National Lottery funding has meant this year’s event can not go ahead. Organiser Emma Rhodes said other smaller events may be planned as a way of bringing the community together and raising money for next year’s event. She added the festival could start charging, but this would create barriers for some members of the deprived inner-city community, and be against its ethos.

Calling budding reporters 🖊️Ever read The Tribune and think: I’d like to do that? You’re in luck. Our sister title in Glasgow, The Bell, is hiring a new reporter. Get all the details here.

Coming up

This week, we’ll be sending out two more newsletters to over 2,500 members. For the first Victoria will be speaking to Paul Collier, the Sheffield-born University of Oxford professor and author of Left Behind: A New Economics for Neglected Places. In the book, Professor Collier asks why places like South Yorkshire have fallen behind and what can we do about it. And in the second, Daniel Timms will be taking a deep dive into Sheffield rental market and asking whether the time is right for rent controls. To get all that in your inbox, just click below.

This week’s weather 🌥️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say there will be a sunny start to the week, with patchy rain and breezy winds working eastwards on Tuesday. Gradually calmer, sunnier and colder from midweek.

Monday 🌤 Early cloud breaks to lengthy sunny spells. Fairly mild and breezy from the south-southwest, with highs of 10°C and thicker cloud spreading east overnight.

Tuesday 🌦 Patchy outbreaks of rain developing during the morning, along with keen southwesterly winds. Turning brighter later, with highs of around 10°C.

Wednesday ⛅ Dry and bright with sunny spells breaking through nicely. Westerly breezes gradually moderating, with a frost likely overnight under clear skies. Highs of 8°C.

Thursday ☀ Largely sunny after a cold start. Gentle winds from the southeast with another widespread frost likely overnight under clear skies. Highs of 7°C.

Friday ⛅ Another dry and fine day with hazy sunny spells after an early frost. Light east to southeast winds with another cold night following. Highs of 6°C.

Outlook 🌬 A cold weekend is expected with light easterly winds feeding in areas of cloud. Some sunnier periods at times, too. Frost and freezing fog are also possible.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook.

Home of the week 🏡

We don’t feature many homes in Woodseats, but this one is a beauty. Spread over three floors, this beautifully-presented three bedroom terrace has an amazing dining room cum kitchen which has been tastefully extended to incorporate floor-to-ceiling glazing, filling the space with light. The one downside? An astroturf lawn. It is on the market for £350,000.

Tribune tips: If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please get in touch with us by emailing editor@sheffieldtribune.co.uk. We are happy to speak to people off the record, and we guarantee we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.

Things to do 📆

Art 🖼️ On now at the Millennium Gallery is Strange Presence, an exhibition of the work of Sheffield-born abstract artist John Hoyland. Visitors will see 10 Hoyland paintings, including a number of his large-scale works. The show also includes his sketchbooks, photographs and archival film offering a rare insight into Hoyland’s inspiration and studio practice. The exhibition will run until 18 May. Admission is free but a donation of £5 is encouraged.

Music 🎻 On Wednesday, join Music in the Round at the Crucible Playhouse for a gorgeous, pared-back performance of The Lark Ascending, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s most popular work. The violin soars melodiously above the rest of the string quartet in the arrangement which will conclude this concert featuring English music for oboe and strings. Music by Purcell, Holst and Britten will also feature. Tickets are £5-£22 and doors open at 7pm.

Talk 🍵  Also on Wednesday, join Dr Julie Banham at the Millennium Gallery as she looks at some of the ways in which daily life in England has been shaped, supported and stimulated by tea. Since its arrival in England, tea has been seen as a luxury, an everyday essential, a benefit and a threat to health. It’s such a part of our national life, it’s difficult to imagine a crisis or celebration which isn’t accompanied by a kettle. The free 45-minute talk begins at 1pm.