Sheffield’s a city full of culture. From Arctic Monkeys to Pulp, to the Human League and Def Leppard, and many more, we have this northern city to thank for a lot of iconic British music, and that’s not even mentioning the city’s street art, and its wealth of writers, filmmakers, and creatives. It’s no surprise, then, that the city is willing to invest more than £14 million into a brand new venue to help its thriving cultural scene grow even more.
The city centre venue, which is being called ‘Event Central’ initially had a budget of £8 million, but that’s recently been upped to £14.4m in order to ensure that no corners are cut. The venue will make its home in the former shops from 20-26 Fargate; here’s what that will look like from the outside.
It is set to be more than just a place for live music – the council hopes Event Central can act as an all-purpose events and meetings space.
Current plans involve the building being used for a healthy mix of things including ‘a 200-person live event space’ and a ‘café/bar area on the ground floor, with the four upper floors used as co-working space along with meeting rooms’. The council noted that it expects the venue ‘will be able to host a wide-ranging programme of community events, showcases, exhibitions, workshops and talks when work is complete’.
Work is due to start on the project very soon, and developers hope that it will be open and running by the end of next year (2026). That’s assuming all goes to plan in the construction phase, so there could always be delays.
Local councillor Ben Miskell said that this project will ‘breathe life back into the building’ and ‘[transform] it into a venue we can all be proud of’. He added: ‘Sheffield is home to some legendary venues, known across the country and we want Event Central to be added to that list.
‘A venue where the next generation of Sheffield bands begin their journey, the next great artists display their work for the first time and the place where meetings will be held that will shape the future of this great city and beyond.’
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