Ambitious Sheffield club Republic led a revolution in 1990s nightlife

The £1.4 million scheme took nearly three years to get off the ground and eventually became the home of Gatecrasher.

Although its life was a rollercoaster from beginning to end, the significance of what it achieved was pivotal for the growth and profile of the evening economy for the rest of the decade.

The transformation of the former Roper and Wreaks steelworks on Matilda Street into a state-of-the-art nightclub was truly breathtaking.

The scheme to get the place up and running lasted nearly three years, with a long-running battle to try to get a licence being played out in the press.

The drinks licence was finally granted at Sheffield Crown Court by Judge Tom Cracknell, who overturned a previous ruling.

The Republic was the city's first new nightclub in more than 12 years.

Five young entrepreneurs were behind the project: Anwar Akhtar, Neil Midgley, Jerome Curran, Tony Fitzgerald and Fran Hilbert.

Anwar and Jerome came to Sheffield as students and started promoting club nights in the late 1980s at Locarno on London Road – later to be renamed the Palais, Music Factory and then BED. They started with student night, Blow Out, which regularly attracted more than 1,000 on a Thursday night.

Anwar said of the granting of the licence for the Republic: “It is going to put Sheffield on the map. It will take Sheffield clubbing to a different level.

“It would have been open now had the original application been granted as it should have been.”

The venue offered a daytime cafe, gallery and exhibition space, office accommodation and more.

Its initial door policy was: “Dress up, dress down, dress middle, dress round, we want you for your heart and not for your Armani shirt.”

It opened in late 1995 to huge anticipation. The interior was truly staggering and blended the heavy industry of Steel City with 20th-century clubbing chic.

The Republic incorporated many original design features, including a giant industrial crane above the dance floor.

It truly tried to do things differently. Admission prices and bar charges were kept affordable.

Sally Jordan was one of the first through the door. She said: “The Republic was breathtaking. It was like something out of a Terminator movie. We couldn't quite believe we'd got something that amazing in sunny Sheffield.”

Sadly, it didn't last long under its original ownership and the administrators were called in within a year or so of opening.

Bizarrely, things seemed to move up a gear after that and it really started to build into a formidable business with a clutch of very popular nights.

But it took its sale to Gatecrasher to turn the Republic into one of the most successful venues of the era as the Birmingham brand developed its quest for after-dark domination.

It was revamped and renamed Gatecrasher One. Even a high-profile drugs raid in early 2000 couldn't dent its popularity.

Although the building will be best remembered as the permanent home of Gatecrasher – it burnt down a few years later - it also played host to ground-breaking gigs in its early Republic days.

Everyone from the Longpigs to Pulp graced the stage.

It was also one of the first venues to have an email address. You could drop a line to [email protected] as long ago as 1996.

*Taken from the Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1990s Sheffield, available from www.dirtystopouts.com