Sheffield park lodge food plan moves ahead
A Sheffield park lodge is taking a step closer to becoming a bistro or eating place with a key decision due next week.
The grade II-listed Endcliffe Lodge near the east entrance to Endcliffe Park off Hunters Bar has already been marketed by Sheffield City Council as a potential bistro or eating place.
A meeting of the council’s charity trustee sub-committee next Monday (March 9) will decide whether to go ahead with lease negotiations with an unnamed recommended operator.
The park is owned by a charitable trust which the council operates as sole trustee. The committee makes decisions on the council’s behalf as corporate trustee.
The lodge and pavilion was built in 1891, thee years after the park opened as “public walks and pleasure grounds”.
The lodge was lived in by council staff who worked in the park until 2023. Part is now used as a base for the parks and countryside team who look after Endcliffe Park and they will move out.
Deterioration
A report to the committee said that the building is starting to show signs of deterioration. It added: “With investment, the lodge has potential to transform this area of Endcliffe Park, a Green Flag Park at the entrance to the Porter Valley.”
All income generated from the lease arrangement will be returned directly to the charity, contributing to its upkeep and management. The report said: “The council already works closely with the established and successful family‑focused café within Endcliffe Park, and negotiations for this proposal will seek to ensure that any new offer complements, rather than competes with, the existing operator.”