International chain Radisson Blu have been selected by Sheffield Council for a flagship hotel on Pinstone Street overlooking the Peace Gardens. The luxury hotel development is expected to offer 150 rooms as part of the Heart of the City Phase 2 programme which will restore a group of historically significant buildings of Victorian heritage. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Councillor Mazher Iqbal, cabinet member for business and infrastructure.
Plans to turn Sheffield’s listed Central Library into a five star hotel have been abandoned on grounds of cost with Sheffield Council now exploring the building’s renovation as a cultural hub. Plans to build a new library elsewhere in the city remain on the table and are expected to require around £20 million investment if they are to proceeed. Councillor Mary Lea, cabinet member for culture, parks and leisure, said talks about other potential projects remain ongoing with Chinese investment partner, Sichuan Guodong Group. Azz Mohammed reports for Sheffield Live!
A petition to keep Sheffield Central Library in its existing grade II listed building has reached over 8,000 signatures. Sheffield City Council has opened discussions with Chinese investment partner Guodong UK Limited over proposals to sell off the Central Library to become the city’s first five star hotel. The Council has said the building is in need of repairs which would cost at least £30 million and an alternative option would be to build a new modern library elsewhere in the city centre. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke to Rebecca Gransbury who started the petition.
Deputy Council leader Leigh Bramall defended plans to turn Sheffield’s central library into a five star hotel in an interview with Sheffield Live! The deal was signed with Chinese construction firm Guodong UK Ltd in July to build the city’s first five star hotel, as part of £220 million pounds investment pledged over three years. A new modern central library is to be built elsewhere in the city centre. The council estimate up to £30 million pounds would be needed to bring the library up to modern day standards. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!
Sheffield City Council confirmed this week that the Central Library could be replaced with a five-star hotel as part of a Chinese investment deal. The Council signed the deal with Chinese construction firm Guodong UK Ltd in July, with £220m pledged over the next three years. If plans go ahead, it would be the city’s first five-star hotel and the library would move elsewhere in the city centre while Graves A about the proposals.