Sheffield Container Park Fargate: Farewell to metal boxes as last business leaves controversial development

Korean food firm Clapping Seoul was the last to leave the steel shipping containers which had been at the top of Fargate since October, after Sheffield Council decided it was time to take them away.

When The Star visited today, business owner Jay Park was loading his cooking surfaces into a van to be taken away, just over three months after he had moved into the site.

Mr Park had mixed feelings to be leaving. In terms of the economics of being part of the project, he estimated that he had broken even over the operation of the containers scheme.

But he had been pleased with the exposure that his Clapping Seoul had received from its location in the development at the top of the pedestrian precinct. At one point while he was there, he received a glowing review from well known internet Rate My Takeaway reviewer, Danny Malin.

He said: “We do authentic Korean food. There are lots of places doing that in London, but not in Sheffield. and it was great to see so many people come here and enjoy our food. We are still looking for somewhere to move to permanently, and the council has helped us before.

"I will miss being here, absolutely. Although people may not like the building, they did like the food. But before the closure, we did get people complaining to us about the building, but the building was nothing to do with us.”

Although today had been designated the last day of trading at the Container Park, tenants had already left. The branded windows of the businesses looked into empty metal boxes.

Shoppers made their way past the structure, some discussing the development, reported to have cost over £500,000 in all, and which opened several months after its originally planned opening date. It had initially been scheduled to open in the summer in time for the women’s UEFA 2022 competition which was played in the city.

Student Tyler Kendrick, originally from Barnsley, but now living in Sheffield city centre, was taking pictures of the structure. He said he had used its businesses in the past. He said: “I’ve been here quite a few times. It was my friend who told me about it. I had seen they were constructing it, but didn’t realise it had opened. It still looked under construction. The Korean corn dog stand, I’ve been to that quite a few times. It was really nice, but a bit expensive to be honest.”

Would he miss the container park? “I kind of will, and I kind of won’t,” he said. “The shops around did provide something new to Sheffield, but the actual design of the building was a bit of an eyesore, as harsh as that may sound. I think they could have done better to just touch it up.”

Sara Sanderson, from Norton, said she would not miss the container park. “I didn’t even know what it was or what was in there,” she said. “It didn’t look very inviting to go into. I wasn’t sure if it was somewhere to eat or drink – it wasn’t obvious. I don’t know anything about it other than it cluttering up the end of Fargate.”

Sarah Strachan told The Star she was excited about the project when it was meant to open in the summer. But she added: “I’ve never actually used it since it’s been open. It’s not got anything in there that really attracted me to it.” Will she miss it? She said: “No. I think it’s a shame they spent so much money on it and it didn’t live up to its promise and expectation. I think it’s a bit of an eyesore.”

Robert Murphy, from Norfolk Park said he had used it, but he would not miss it that much. He said: “It was a waste of money – that was £500,000 that could have been used to rent the buildings along Fargate.”

Katherine Jackson, from Meersbrook, said she would not miss the facility. She said: “To be honest I’ve not been in there. It looks interesting, and the council is trying to do some interesting things on Fargate, while the are changes in development that are taking place, but I can’t say that I’d miss it, no. There are other bits of Sheffield that I feel more attached to, and I wish they’d put the money into those instead.”

Asked if he would miss the container park, Stephen Corker, from Woodseats, said: “Probably not because I’ve not really seen it very often and I’ve not really used it.” He said he had not really been tempted to use it.

The closure brings to a close months of turmoil, delays and overspending on the site, which was supposed to generate interest and boost footfall in the city centre. Removal will take up to six weeks, but the site must be clear from March to make way for a revamp of Fargate.

When the decision was made to take the containers away, earlier this month, Sheffield Council leader Coun Terry Fox said: “Obviously this project hasn’t been our finest hour. But what I don’t want it to do is extinguish our appetite for ambition for this city.”

He added: “Sadly, the containers project never fulfilled what was expected. The council now needs to learn lessons from this to ensure that similar mistakes aren’t made again, and the on-going governance review needs to investigate how the committee system can facilitate better oversight for councillors.”