Graves Park Sheffield: No final decision yet on future of popular Rose Garden Cafe building
The future of the much-loved Rose Garden Cafe at Graves Park, Sheffield is still under consideration, councillors have been told.
Members of Sheffield City Council’s charity trustee sub-committee got a verbal update on progress at the cafe, which reopened last month after its sudden closure in July because of safety concerns over a structural survey that showed potential problems with the roof.
The park, which was gifted to the city by Alderman JG Graves, is owned by a charitable trust with the city council as sole trustee. The Rose Garden Cafe was built in 1927 and is a popular landmark and meeting place.
A big community campaign was launched over fears that the building would be closed and possibly demolished because of the cost of repairs. A petition to the council was signed by more than 10,000 people and hundreds of people attended an open-air protest meeting.
Nathan Rodgers, head of services management, said that the council had been working closely with operators Brewkitchen to get a takeaway service up and running before Christmas with some very limited seating.
Extra partitioning had to be erected in order to protect staff and customers from trip hazards because of the propping that is in place for the building and various risk and safety assessments had been carried out.
Independent survey
Several structural surveys have been carried out for the council and the Friends of Graves Park also commissioned their own independent survey. The council surveys can be seen on the Rose Garden Cafe page on the council website at https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/parks-sport-recreation/rose-garden-cafe-closure
Mr Rodgers said that regular meetings are taking place with the Friends group and the Save the Rose Garden Cafe campaign. The next meeting is due to take place on February 24.
He also said that said that council staff are working through the data provided by the surveys to inform the potential cost of options for the building which will be brought back to the council for consideration.
Coun Douglas Johnson said: “It’s good news that you’ve managed to work alongside the Friends group. You’ve got their surveys and discussed that in a collaborative way.”