My nomination for the disasters are:

the Student Games (do i need to say any more?);
the Centre for Popular Music (again, do I need to say any more?);
Tower blocks (OK, so every other local authority in the country was doing the same thing at the same time);
the renovated Peace Gardens (I know this one is particularly controversial, but I preferred the green spaces of yesteryear - there aren't many green areas in the city centre and, nice as it is, the current peace gardens is basically concrete slabs with (admittedly nice) fountains.

I think that a common feature of the first three is lack of public consultation - there was no evidence that the public wanted these projects and were foisted on them.

My nomination for the successes are:

the tram system (I'm not a great enthusiast for trams, but I do think the current network works well);
the Millenium galleries (OK, a bit small, but very nice and a small haven of peace for lunchtime workers).
er - I am sure there are others, but can't think of any at the moment.

Does anyone else have a similar list?

Disasters
1) Pulling down the superb and modern ABC cinema for a shopping centre which never got built, and leaving the land bare for 10 years.
2) Pulling down the Gaumont and building the Odeon instead.
3) Roads policy in the town centre.
4) The old sheaf valley baths. after they built it they realised it was just a couple of feet short to be an olympic size pool. Wot a colossal cock up
5) deregulating the busses (might have been the govt.)
6) Plonking the massive MSC building at the bottom of the moor cutting off the end of the town centre

Successes
I disagree about the peace gardens I think it's wonderful, and I think any city in the world would be proud of it.

what about knocking the empire down on charles street or wrecking the queens head on pond street. what about making oneils in broomhill into asream pub.

Disasters:
1. Allowing Meadowhell to be built
2. Building the Egg Boxes
3. Building the winter gardens and then sticking a hotel complex around it
4. Tram system (nice try but doesn't quite go everywhere does it...)
5. NHS's fault but all those cottage hospitals being closed and only having one small A&E for the 4th/5th largest city in the UK!!! Madness

Successes:
1. Revamp of the Botanical Gardens
2. Revamp of fargate / moor to make them pedestrianised
3. Peace Gardens
4. Knocking the egg boxes down (shame about what's going up in place).

I think the eggboxes is an interesting point. The design was cut to the bone by the city fathers (v common apparently) and the structure was built in horrible yellow precast concrete instead of the original attractive materials. it would have been interesting to see how the population would have viewed it if it was granite instead.

Just thought of a recent wopper - the failure to get the IKEA store
Also the failure of the Sheffield City Airport

I suppose one of the biggest failures as far as direct investment is concerned was the failure to attract Toyota to Sheffield - what did Burnaston have that Sheffield didn't?

Originally posted by LordChaverly
I suppose one of the biggest failures as far as direct investment is concerned was the failure to attract Toyota to Sheffield - what did Burnaston have that Sheffield didn't?

Whats this about Toyota? I never knew they were looking at sheffield, although i am wee nipper(19) so may not remember if it was a few years ago.

Successes:
1) Peace gardens, winter gardens, millenium galleries. I know the hotel is a sensitive issue but i'm sure people will get over it once the economic benefits become apparent and there is a top class hotel in the city.
2)World student games- the reason we have the best facilities in the country
3)Botanical gardens restoration- not sure if it had much to do with council but how can you not love them?
4) the tram link between meadowhall and city centre, provides good transport infrastructure for further investment
Failures:

1)student games- mentioned above as a success but we got screwed financially- the government didn't help much compared with their support for manchester commonwealth games.
2)The egg box-nuff said.
3)the road system around city centre- oh dear.

I agree that the peace gardens look nice. But the renovation took away the only? bit of green space in the city centre. It also had nice flower beds which were pretty in summer. For some reason though it did seem to attract groups of drunks - a problem I've not noticed since the renovation.

As for Toyota, all local authorities were vying with each other to attract it to their area in the 1980s.

I liked the Egg-box (I realise I'm in a minority here), it was a bold modern design (when it was built it was modern anyway), much more interesting that the red brick box they built to replace it.

I wish the Gaumont was still there in Barkers Pool, that was a great cinema, and it would also mean that horrible building that is there now would never have been built.

I like the new Peace Gardens, the old ones were like a suburban front garden with the old fashioned flowerbeds, lawn and cherry trees, it looked shoddy and dated. Also, it wasn't the only bit of green in the city centre, what about Devonshire Green ?

I think all these listings are pretty much spot on.

I have to agree that the Queens Head has been victim to serious architectural vandalism. How did they get permission to destroy a historic monument?
The McDonalds hotel is a big mistake ....this area should have been give up to green gardens to complement the glasshouse behind it.
The World student games and the Bernard Road incinerator fiasco have impoverished the city.... blame the council
Deregulated transport, Meadowhall, Sheffield Airport for £1 ...blame Thatcher

Botanical gardens are superb (Please fund maintenance and security over the next 30years)
Winter gardens are also impressive (But dig up some stone flags and enlarge the planting beds)
The Cornish Works/Kelham Island developments have been a big plus point.
I am also hoping that ASBOs turn out to be a big success

What is everyone banging on about the Queen's Head for? Am I to assume you are talking about the old building in the middle of the bus station which is now a pub called the Old Queens Head. Although a pub for a while now, It was originally a laundry as far as we know.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
What is everyone banging on about the Queen's Head for? Am I to assume you are talking about the old building in the middle of the bus station which is now a pub called the Old Queens Head. Although a pub for a while now, It was originally a laundry as far as we know.

So not the oldest pub in Sheffield then?

Originally posted by muddycoffee


Just thought of a recent wopper - the failure to get the IKEA store
Also the failure of the Sheffield City Airport

I think they declined it, rather than faield to get it. And I view it as a great success in resisting them!

Originally posted by muddycoffee
Just thought of a recent wopper - the failure to get the IKEA store


I don't know why people are so upset about this, it's just a furniture store.

Cockups-

Hotel infront of the winter gardens
Traffic System as a whole
Underused bus lanes

Good Sh*t
Eggbox-gone
New peace/winter gardens
Proposed work on the moor

Originally posted by nick2
I don't know why people are so upset about this, it's just a furniture store.

I am opposed to large out of town shopping centres on a number of grounds (as is central government planning guidance - there will not be any new meadowhalls in the future) and many of the same arguments are gone over again and again in relation to meadowhall.

But my main issue is increasing dependence on our cars for commerce harming the vulnerable sectors of socieity without car access and also emmissions based damage on the environment.


could go on all day baout this, but have work to do
:clap:

Originally posted by ptigga
So not the oldest pub in Sheffield then?

Lord No! The oldest pub in sheffield is the nailmakers arms blackmoor road. It has had a licence since 1626 that's 378 years. The old queens head only started selling beer in 1841 that's only 168.... Less than half as long

Originally posted by muddycoffee
Disasters
1) Pulling down the superb and modern ABC cinema for a shopping centre which never got built, and leaving the land bare for 10 years.
6) Plonking the massive MSC building at the bottom of the moor cutting off the end of the town centre

Successes
I disagree about the peace gardens I think it's wonderful, and I think any city in the world would be proud of it.

ABC was demolished as first phase of a giant shopping complex that didn't happen because the site owners went bust. Not the council's fault that nothing got built for 10 years. It was a useful car park though!

Manpower building has a 'hole' through the middle - council policy to retain the Moor and public footpath all the way to London Road etc. Manpower ignored the council's requirements and closed off the 'hole' - citing security concerns. Council gave in - but should have fought that one.

Peace gardens are straight out of a comic book. Where's the grass and seats that used to be so popular. And, why can we afford to pay £100k a year to maintain and patrol this lot when we couldn't afford £2k a year for the Goodwin fountain on Fargate. Also, useful bus shelter taken away to give a better view of the place, and lousy to walk on bumpy paving was installed too. The details seem to be copied from Disney! Sorry, it's a big gimmick and will look dafter still in a few years.

i was beginning to think that i was the only one who preferred the old peace gardens to the present one. I think every city should have at least one oasis of greenery at its heart.

Reading all those posts have made me so upset, everything i loved as a child has gone!! does anyone know of a really good website with all those sheffield glorys on or a book perhaps??

i used to love going to watch the fish in the hole in the road, a bit sad i know but all my first memories of town have been knocked down, the problem with the council is that only people who bulldozer happy to begin with want a seat on it.

BIGGEST DISASTER - if the snooker world championship leaves sheffield then there will be no guests to fill all these shiny new hotels!!!

One of the smaller ones.
Building a school at Woodhouse (? shortbrook) on an estate buildt for Pensioners.
Hazel

Taking away the fountain at the top of Fargate and proposing a selection of frankly horrible statues to take its place.
I seem to remember one looked like a stack of 50 pence pieces while another was a tree growing out of a skull like something you'd find in a skanky goth shop.
They had a public poll about which one should go up and I think most people went for none of the above, which is why that area is blank to this day.
I think it then turned out they'd actually bought one of the nasty things already, anticipating it would be the one most folks went for. What happened to it is anyone's guess.

Oh, and where's the walking man? That was one cool statue!

I have to agree with leddi one of my earliest memories was going to the hole in the road with my nana and her dragging me away from the fish so she could go to house of fraser

Susie
xx

Originally posted by Sheffette
Taking away the fountain at the top of Fargate and proposing a selection of frankly horrible statues to take its place.
I seem to remember one looked like a stack of 50 pence pieces while another was a tree growing out of a skull like something you'd find in a skanky goth shop.
They had a public poll about which one should go up and I think most people went for none of the above, which is why that area is blank to this day.
I think it then turned out they'd actually bought one of the nasty things already, anticipating it would be the one most folks went for. What happened to it is anyone's guess.

Oh, and where's the walking man? That was one cool statue!

I remember that fountain. It was there in the first year I started uni back in '97. That was before the bus gate in front of Virgin and Gap was sculptured (and when GAP was still GAME. A new fountain in the same place would be a lovely addition. I really really despise most of the street furniture on Fargate especially those huge adverting pillars with benches half way around them.

The view down Fargate towards the old town hall (or whatever that white building with the clock is) would be spectacular if it wasn't so cluttered with street furniture.

Originally posted by ptigga
I remember that fountain. It was there in the first year I started uni back in '97.
The view down Fargate towards the old town hall (or whatever that white building with the clock is) would be spectacular if it wasn't so cluttered with street furniture.

The fountain was called the Goodwin Fountain, after a wealthy local industrialist. I think it was installed around 40-50 years ago. But it was getting into a state when they dug it up. Was always being vandalised, full of rubbish and looked dated. The white building at the bottom of Fargate is the old Telegraph and Star Building, (Kelmsley house?) in the basement used to be Legends formerly Crazy Daisy, which was an underground gig venue. I've been told that Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin played there, of course Joe Cocker and Frank White were regulars. It was never the town hall. The current Victorian town hall was built first.

The old "hole in the road and subways" was a good idea, but I know people used to feel unsafe in there, and I remember walking through in the morning to work and the smell of urine was almost intolerable in some places. The fish, were absolutely massive because there was a big magnifying glass in front of the tank.

What about removing one of the counrty's best tramway systems that covered the whole city with trams that were only a third ov the way through there life span and then buliding another tramway system a few years later.

Sheffield City Council = wasted money.

Im just glad they dont run my bank account

Disaster:
Building a tram system to serve huge council estates, then demolishing those estates. Building a tram system that doesn't go to lots of useful places, like the hospitals.

The station re-generation, because it seems to have taken about a thousand years and nothing has changed apart from having a new footbridge.