Louise Hutchinson is leading work for S1 Artspace, which is based at Park Hill, to create exhibition and studio spaces plus a six-acre sculpture park that would link Sheffield’s birthplace of Castlegate to Park Hill.

The project is a key part of a successful citywide £37m government Levelling Up Fund bid made by the city and was originally planned to be based in Park Hill. Louise said changes in other public funding following the pandemic mean that idea can no longer go forward in the same form.

She said S1 Artspace is still committed to working alongside the council to bring the project to fruition elsewhere in the Castlegate area. Various options are being considered, including taking over the empty Market Tavern on Exchange Street or a new-build scheme, she said.

Louise firmly ruled out the idea of taking over the Mudfords Building next door to the Market Tavern, home to Andalus Community Centre, which helps vulnerable people including asylum seekers and refugees, and Frehiwet Habesha Eritrean restaurant.

The centre’s founder Taoufik Marah and Anthony Wood of the Castlegate Partnership, which represents stakeholders in the area, both asked questions at a council committee meeting last month that discussed changes to the Levelling Up Fund bid to bring the two buildings into it. Mr Wood also asked if S1 Artspace had been offered the buildings and was told nothing was finalised.

Mr Marah was assured by committee chair Coun Mazher Iqbal that the community centre would not be evicted from the building, which he leases from the council.

“This has been a journey of the last 15 years to get to this point to get secure, permanent premises in Sheffield city centre,” said Louise. “It was said 15 years ago at a job interview as one of the key things it (S1 Artspace) needed to secure as an organisation.”

Louise said the problem for organisations like S1 is Sheffield City Council has sold off a lot of the type of premises they were looking for following the World Student Games in 1992.

In many cities, such properties are offered to arts and other community-based organisations at a peppercorn rent, said Louise. That leaves organisations such as S1 Artspace taking on rented properties in the commercial market that don’t offer long-term security.

“Our first premises were above Corporation on Division Street,” recalled Louise. “The group was started by artists. They signed a lease and thought it was a really good lease. It locked them in for 25 years and was very much in the landlord’s favour.”

Being on top of what became a thrash metal club wasn’t a good mix, nor was having to enter the building through a back alley, so they went through legal proceedings in order to move.

Next was Trafalgar Warehouse on Trafalgar Street, which didn’t even have windows and needed a lot of work. S1 Artspace moved out in 2015 when the landlord wanted to take advantage of the upcoming area to raise the rent.

“It was forever challenging,” said Louise. “How can you exist and grow without the security of tenure that gives funders security that they can invest properly? The fragility of an organisation in terms of physical presence makes some people nervous.”

Louise said when S1 Artspace moved into its present home in Park Hill, there were still a lot of questions about the future of the former council estate which is being redeveloped by Urban Splash, as phase one of the flats was yet to be completed then. S1 developed an exhibition space in the former Scottish Queen pub, while retaining artists’ studios at Trafalgar Warehouse.

She remembers there was a building site all around them and a few former residents were still living there and the Grace Owen nursery was still operating. She said: “We decided let’s see if we can do anything and see if anyone is interested in a programme at Park Hill.”

Louise said Park Hill is iconic in Sheffield and “part of the fabric” of the city, adding: “Everyone’s got a connection to Park Hill.”

She said they had more visitors in their first 18 months than in the whole of their previous history. A really popular exhibition about making children’s play spaces involved sessions with children and school groups which all sold out.

Louise said: “It was a real draw because of the location which is in a place that people weren’t expecting that sort of programme. We did a lot of work with the Grace Owen nursery, a lot of kids and parents that had never been to a gallery. There was a lot of potential here.

“As we started to do more about Park Hill, we were also thinking could this be a permanent home where we could relocate permanently, with more and more people coming in and getting involved and people doing projects.”

She said they realised there was a need for collaboration with other people to embrace Park Hill’s heritage, architecture and design that showed the potential for a major cultural venue on the site, a “Barbican of the north”.

“It wasn’t like anything else,” said Louise, “It’s in a housing development going through a massive period of change after a turbulent history which is divisive. It’s something quite exciting for the city. It could be nationally important and could have a real impact.”

Louise said the plans might also help keep significant artists in Sheffield, who found they had to move elsewhere to develop further once they had got to a certain level.

She said Sheffield receives a fraction of arts funding, compared to other major British cities, as it does not have the arts infrastructure that could bring in more investment and big projects. “The Arts Council say there isn’t the venues to invest it in.”

“There were all these conversations going on at Park Hill,” said Louise. “We were invited to speak to the government and Treasury. They were very keen to support the project. We were given £1milion in 2016-17.

“We raised £500,000 more over the next couple of years. That enabled us to bring in a capital team – people who deliver at Tate Modern, the V&A and international competitions.” Plans started to be put together to create a major cultural centre.

It was all systems go – then the pandemic hit. Major funding organisations such as the Arts Council and the heritage lottery rethought what sort of projects they were interested in funding and S1 Artspace lost out.

The Levelling Up Fund bid success threw the project a lifeline but further funding would need to be put in place and the idea to be based at Park Hill needed a major rethink, so S1 and the council started looking at other options.

They have had to work quickly because the Levelling Up Fund projects need to be delivered by March 2024 to keep the funding.

Louise believes the sculpture park could be delivered as part of the ‘public realm’ (outdoor space) plans for the Castlegate area, allowing people to visit 24/7 without any restrictions on access. She said the council has been developing a Heritage Lottery bid for the castle ruins that will link the area to Park Hill.

She said: “It’s important that we don’t lose this investment that has been secured. We need to find an option that is the best one. We’re exploring quite a few different sites and the Market Tavern is a potential option. Another option is a new build. There’s lots of different versions of the scheme on the table at the minute. We’re looking at what’s the best value and gives the highest return on outputs.”

Speaking about the Mudfords Building, Louise added: “There’s no way we’d see any community organisation lose their home for us. I’ve never even been around that building. What is a bit disappointing is that you find Sheffield battling against itself. We should be competing against other, bigger cities, not internally.”

Louise urged everyone to get behind the Levelling Up Fund projects to ensure that they are delivered for the benefit of the city, rather than potentially undermining them.

S1 Artspace: Arts leader has 'no interest' in taking over community centre for new plans