Tower block plans for historic Sheffield pub site

Plans have emerged to raze the old Queens Hotel pub on Scotland Street, just outside Sheffield city centre, and replace it with 230 apartments rising up to 11 storeys tall.

No planning application has yet been submitted but an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening request has been made to Sheffield Council, which has ruled that no such assessment is necessary.

A pub has stood at the site since at least the 18th century and the current 1920s building closed more than 20 years ago.

There have been previous attempts to revive the building.

In 1999, plans were submitted to use it as a massage parlour, sauna and health suite, but these were dropped before a decision was made.

In 2007, an application to refurbish the former pub and create 126 apartments was approved, but work never began.

Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs guide, produced by CAMRA Sheffield & District, states that the large hotel dates from 1791, when it opened as Queens Inn, and was rebuilt in 1928 before closing in April 1997.

“The slowly decaying remains boast some distinctive Wards sign work, similar to that at Shakespeare’s,” the guide adds.

The former pub is on the same street where the Rutlands Arms owners recently opened the Crow Inn at what was a hotel and before that a pub called the Crown Inn.

The building has dilapidated badly during the time it has stood empty, with photos taken by an urban explorer in 2016 showing tiles peeling from the floor, wallpaper coming loose and graffiti scrawled on the walls.

The Demolition Register website calls for the building, which it describes as a ‘heritage asset’, to be saved.

“As Sheffield’s (rightly much-lauded) urban renaissance continues, Scotland Street will become a key component of inner-city urban life. Not much heritage frontage exists along the street now, and this building would provide some relief from the cladding and brick slips that will predominate the townscape as developments are built out,” it states.

“Plans to convert into residential accommodation were contemplated a few years ago, so the option is there to retain what is clearly a robust building. I would urge the council to resist demolition on the grounds that the building is vital to regeneration of the area as a townscape heritage asset.”