City Hall Ballroom: Green light for refurbishment plan at legendary Sheffield venue
A legendary Sheffield venue has been given the go ahead for a refurbishment.
Sheffield Council has given the go ahead to plans to start work to transform the famous Sheffield City Hall Ballroom, which has been used for dancing for generations in Sheffield.
They have approved planning permission after a request by the venue’s operator, ASM Global, to make repairs and replace elements of the illuminated dance floor located in the basement ballroom of Sheffield City Hall.
A report by Sheffield Council said: “Whilst Historic England’s official list entry does not mention the illuminated dance floor, (owing to the age of the listing) it is considered to have special architectural and historic interest, being an original feature of the building.
“The dance floor was original installed in the1930’s, and featured a sprung illuminated section of dance floor.”
The report explains that the original framework that contains the spring dance floor has failed, and some of the springs have degraded and failed as well.
The planning application seeks to replace the framework with new to guarantee the structural integrity of the dance floor. It would also replace old lights with modern LED ones.
A heritage statement from ASM Global, who run the City Hall, stated: “To ensure that the dancefloor remain safe to operate into the future we commissioned structural engineering support to assess condition and options.
“Engineering assessment has established that to ensure structural integrity and an aesthetically acceptable outcome the dancefloor requires a major overhaul.
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“The brief for design/ engineers is to retain the system as far as practically possible, for the dancefloor to retain original ‘look’, and lighting functionality to replicate the original.
“We would propose this is a low impact project in terms of heritage risk, but understand that it is high profile as a unique part of the venue and Sheffield history.”
The venue was used by generations for traditional dances. The City Hall ballroom has also been used for club nights, such as the famous Drop night.