Skateboard site in 'no go' area in Sheffield city centre drives out drug use and yobs

Exchange Street, near the former Castle Market site, is very different after three blocks of concrete and two elevated rails were installed, according to governing body Skateboard GB.

Today it is a hub for hundreds of boarders each week, leading to a significant reduction in the ‘extent and visibility of drug use and other anti-social behaviour’.

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Sgt Darius Razaghi, of the police Sheffield City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team, said it was great to see the area being used for ‘positive purposes’.

He said: “More than ever, it is important that our city centre is a safe place for all to enjoy, and it’s been great to see this part of Exchange Street being used for a positive purpose through the Marioland project. We look forward to continuing to work with Skateboard GB and other partners down in Castlegate to support the ongoing regeneration of the area.”

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Marioland - name after a video game - features the first purpose-built skateboard obstacles in a city centre outside a skatepark in the country, it is claimed.

And fans believe its success can be replicated in other cities.

Neil Ellis, a skater who works for Skateboard GB and helped petition for the space, said: “It is great to see the benefit skateboarders can have on a city and help change the area.

“Once an area feels safe for skateboarders, then others feel safe to visit and the knock-on effect is very powerful for an area that once felt scary to walk down.”

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Skateboard GB has details of more than 1,600 skateparks around the country. But Marioland is the only one of its kind, ‘leaving huge potential for other towns to follow suit,’ he added.

The concrete blocks were provided by NMCN, contractors cleaning up the giant Castle Market demolition site. The rails were provided by Steel Line fabricators, Neil added.

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Castlegate is one of Sheffield’s priority development areas. In October, the government announced it would receive £20m from the Levelling Up Fund for de-culverting the River Sheaf, new public spaces and education, employment and encouraging healthy lifestyles.

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