'Future-proofing' plan to tackle town hall repairs

An action plan has been drawn up to tackle multimillion-pound repairs and restoration work at Sheffield's Grade I listed town hall.

Feasibility studies would address key issues such as accessibility, fire safety, structural repairs and the preservation of the Victorian building's historical features, according to Sheffield City Council.

In a report published last month, it was revealed that the cost of restoration and safety works on the town hall would range between £20m and £50m.

Fran Belbin, the council's deputy leader, said: "We've been patching up as we need to over the years, but now is the time to think more ambitiously."

"The building is not in a position where we are a safety risk, but this is about future-proofing," she explained.

The town hall, which was opened by Queen Victoria in 1897, is one of only two Grade I listed buildings in the city centre, along with Sheffield Cathedral.

In 2022, urgent work had to be carried out on the building after a report by the council found serious risks including fire safety, Legionella from water supplies, no ventilation in the council chamber and leaks from an old large diesel tank.

However, Belbin said the council now had an "opportunity" to "make better use of the building".

"We want to open up the building for the general public. It was built for the people of Sheffield," she said.

"There's an opportunity for our own staff to use this space, but also other organisations and for the public - meeting spaces, event spaces."

Sheffield Council staff are currently based at a number of different sites across the city, but the new plans could mean some workers eventually moving into office space at the town hall.

Several rooms on the 4th and 5th floor were currently unoccupied because of crumbling ceilings and broken windows, while access was also a "big issue", Belbin said.

"We've got wasted office space here. The main problem is that the lift only goes to the third floor.

"We need to address this. It's essential for a modern building in the 21st Century."

Councillor Janet Ridler, Sheffield Council's Heritage Champion, said the latest plans would be about "protecting" and "preserving" the historic building.

"The town hall has been part of our city's heritage and at the centre of civic life for more than 100 years. It has stood through two world wars," she said.

"Some of the most important figures of the 19th and 20th Centuries have passed through its doors and it continues to stand at the heart of our local democracy."

Sheffield City Council leader Tom Hunt said a new project delivery team would take the lead on the feasibility studies and would work with the public and heritage organisations to secure funding to pay for the repairs.

Meanwhile, Belbin said the Heritage Lottery Fund was one possible source of money which could be explored, while - depending on how ambitious the final plans were - another could be "through public loans".

Work was not expected to start within the next 18 months while the feasibility studies were carried out, according to the council.

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