Mansfield Road fire station gym: Sheffield project weeks away from opening its doors

Former policeman and strong man Phil Roberts, and plumber Tom Lee, are nearing completion of a major project to convert the former Mansfield Road Fire Station, in Birley, into a gym and café, and expect to be ready to open their doors in the new year.

Phil is expecting to open for the first time as The Station Gym on January 9. He said: “There is still lots to do. Structurally, it is all done, but there is a lot of work to do inside the building. We’ve done the low or medium skilled work ourselves, but we have had to get contractors in for the skilled work. Last month I had my first days off for a long time.”

Outside artwork is completed. "We have a space invader on the tower, and a pac man on one of the outside walls,” said Phil. “We’re doing work on the cafe area. We’ve been plastering and painting, putting in stairs and balustrades, as well as doing job applications. And we’ve got 500 members signed up already."

Work has also been carried out on resurfacing the car park, which will have up to 50 car parking spaces when it is completed. The air conditioning and heating systems have also been installed now.

The conversion into a gym will see a new use for the building for the first time since it was closed around 10 years ago, although many features, like the tower and the big doors which used to allow the fire engines into the building, have been retained. The fire station is believed to date back the 1960s.

Phil says the café, which will serve healthy food, will be open to the community and not just gym users and gym members. The gym will be available to people paying a fee on the day, as well as members, and there are plans to form clubs within the building to help people make friends and build communities.

He said he also hopes to work with the NHS to get people fit and healthy. They are converting a building which was becoming derelict before they took it over.