Defeat for campaign to save sixties tower

The Yorkshire branch of the Twentieth Century Society (C20) put forward a proposal to refurbish Castlegate Tower, which sits on the site of the former Castle Market, in a bid to spare it from the bulldozers. Members argued that the tower, built in the 1960s, should be preserved and re-used because it was of significant architectural interest.

But in a move condemned as “short-sighted”, Sheffield Council has decided to press ahead with the demolition of the eight-storey tower. The local authority plans to excavate the site to search for medieval ruins, despite a bid for funding being rejected by Heritage Lottery Fund earlier this year.

Simon Chadwick, of the Sheffield School of Architecture, said: “Sheffield deserves better than a ‘demolish first, make plans later’ approach. The council is rushing to demolish everything when they don’t have a plan, funds or a developer for the site.

“They don’t have any money to do an archaeological dig to find out if there’s actually any castle ruins. So we’ll probably get another big hole in the city centre.”