O2 Academy Sheffield: Joy as popular live music venue set to reopen

‘Crumbly concrete’ will be removed from the roof of the O2 Academy documents show, after more than a year closed.

O2 bosses have been silent since it closed abruptly in September last year. Only this week a spokesperson said they had “no update.”

Now an application has been submitted to Sheffield City Council for permission to remove a ‘RAAC concrete roof deck’ and replace it with a flat roof.

The news will be met with joy among its many fans. Gigs scheduled for the Academy have been held at other venues including Network and the Octagon.

Built in 1968, the building has had several names and uses including Top Rank, Steelys, St Thomas’s Church and Roxy Disco. The Academy opened in 2008 following a £3m refurbishment.

In August last year the government said some schools were unsafe due to RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete), which can fail without warning.

It triggered an investigation into thousands of buildings built with the material from the 1950s to the 1990s.

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