Sheffield Fargate: Boxes of condemned Container Park replaced with work crew cabins ahead of £18m renovations

The boxes of Sheffield’s condemned Container Park have been replaced by different boxes ahead of a £18m renovation scheme.
Alastair Ulke
By Alastair Ulke
Published 13th Apr 2023, 13:00 BST
Updated 17th Apr 2023, 07:53 BST
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It has been four weeks since the ill-fated Fargate shopping attraction was dismantled and removed from the city centre. In its brief six month stint, the Container Park was delayed by two months, nearly doubled in cost and consumed around £60,000 in diesel to keep the lights on.

Then, rather than pay £180,000 to bring it into compliance, the council voted to instead spend £95,000 to remove it and move on.

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Now, the prefabricated crates of the Container Park have been replaced with different prefabricated crates as council contractors move in to begin its £18m ‘Future High Streets Fund’ project.

Sheffield's Container Park project spent a ill-fated six months on Fargate and cost nearly £600,000 before it was dismantled.Sheffield's Container Park project spent a ill-fated six months on Fargate and cost nearly £600,000 before it was dismantled.
Sheffield's Container Park project spent a ill-fated six months on Fargate and cost nearly £600,000 before it was dismantled.

The series of white cabins arrived on Fargate on April 6 to create a base of operations for the redevelopment scheme. With the addition of construction fencing, it has created an area inaccessible to pedestrians bigger than the Container Park ever was.

Infamously, the Container Park had to be run off of a £10,000-a-month diesel generator because the complex could not be connected to mains power. The council has been asked to comment on how the contractors’ cabins will be powered.

The Star also asked the council to comment on where it was planning to put the contractors’ base before the Container Park was dismantled. The council said it was always intended for the contractors’ cabins to be placed where the Container Park had been.

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The £18m renovation project will see flower beds, seating areas and new street lighting installed. Numbers 20-26 Fargate will also be turned into a ‘cultural hub’ with co-working spaces and a cafe/juice bar planned.

Together with construction fencing, the contractors' cabins take up more space than the Container Park ever did.Together with construction fencing, the contractors' cabins take up more space than the Container Park ever did.
Together with construction fencing, the contractors' cabins take up more space than the Container Park ever did.

In a statement, the council said the project is due to end “by the end of 2023”.

The proposed renovations had to be scaled back by the council after the budget for it ballooned from £8.82m in November 2021 to £18m now. A committee heard the increased costs were due to increased prices of materials, as well as inflation and unplanned additions such as an underground bin system and anti-terrorism bollards.

Related topics:SheffieldFargateFuture High Streets Fund