Container Park Sheffield: Controversial attraction finally leaves Fargate for unknown location

The eight shipping containers were dismantled ‘under the cover of darkness’ and spirited away to an unknown location. Several small cubes of concrete, missing flagstones and a cherry picker were left inside the compound.

It brings to an end saga which started more than a year ago when the ill-fated project was announced.

There were high hopes a hub of shops, food outlets and bars could help boost footfall and revive the street’s flagging fortunes. It was supposed to be open ahead of the Women’s Euros in July. But the containers were not lowered into place until August 8 and did not open until late October, before closing at the end of January. An upstairs bar planned for the development never opened.

The original £300,000 estimate for the scheme ballooned to £576,000, with the cost of removal alone hitting £95,000, up from an estimate of £60,000.

Its location on Fargate had to be changed after Yorkshire Water warned it could collapse one of the city’s biggest sewers. And the city council fell out with operator SteelYard Kelham, which eventually walked away from the scheme.

The containers are now set to be used as toilets or catering units in the city’s parks and by community groups. They were removed so work could begin on an £18 million revamp of the street, set to include new flower beds, seating and street lighting, plus the creation of a new ‘cultural hub’.

All but one of the trees on Fargate was recently removed, though the council has pledged to plant 15 new trees there.