New four-star hotel to be built in Sheffield city centre

The Radisson Blu will be housed behind the historic facades of Palatine Chambers and City Mews.

A second complementary building, containing the majority of the hotel’s 154 bedrooms, will replace Barkers Pool House on Burgess Street.

The scheme includes a rooftop bar, restaurant and terrace, which will look out over the Peace Gardens, with ground level shops, bars and restaurants.

Robin Hughes, of Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society, said Pinstone Street was the first of Sheffield Council’s bold series of street improvements approved by Parliament in 1875.

It was revolutionary as it included apartments specifically aimed at working families and there were fears people would not want to live in the city centre, but they became oversubscribed.

Mr Hughes told the planning meeting: “They cut a new and much wider route down to Moorhead, moving the focus of the town at a stroke from the riverside to the top of Fargate to create the city centre that we know today.

“Its buildings were constructed in just 15 years, in the teeth of the Long Depression of 1873-96, City Mews and Palatine Chambers being amongst the last to be built.”

He welcomed a condition which says the Bill Mitchell frieze, which has been removed from Burgess Street, should be placed elsewhere in Heart of the City II.

“The attempt to exclude the frieze from this application is regrettable and the condition requiring a firm plan for its re-use is very welcome,” he said,

After the meeting, Cabinet Member for Business and Investment at Sheffield Council, said: “We believe that the arrival of Radisson Blu – a brand of real quality and prestige – not only demonstrates confidence in our city as a worthwhile investment location, but will be a key factor to attracting more businesses and will complement the ongoing rejuvenation of our city centre.”

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