Square route to more success for 'cultural heart' of steel city

But now, after a year of restoration works costing in excess of 4m, Sheffield's "cultural heart" is on course to be reopened to the public, featuring carvings in York stone quarried for the purpose in Huddersfield, in time for the World Snooker Championships in April.

The works also mean that Tudor Square, which houses a number of listed buildings such as the Crucible and Lyceum theatres, the Graves Art Gallery and the Ruskin Building, will be suitable for outdoor performances of music and dance.

The restoration of Tudor Square has coincided with a 15.3m redevelopment at the adjacent Crucible Theatre, set to be completed in February.

Coun Colin Ross, Sheffield Council's cabinet member for employment, enterprise and development, said the vision for Tudor Square was to provide a really top-quality public space.

The new-look Square will include a series of stone carvings, some of which will be public art and some of which will be seating.

These carvings have been made from natural York stone, sourced from Johnson's quarry in Crosland Hill, Huddersfield.

Other improvements have involved removing most of the steps, raised areas and walls to create a "simpler, more accessible space" with a "better defined caf terrace".

New lighting and mist effects have also been added to illuminate buildings such as the Central Library and Lyceum and add an "ethereal" quality to the area.

The final part of the redevelopment will see plants and trees added to the Square's new planters.

Funding for the work has come from regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, which has put 4.1m into the scheme.

Coun Ross added: "Tudor Square is the cultural heart of the city and it is important that it gets the tender loving care that we see elsewhere in Sheffield.

"We've secured various bits of public funding for the work and we're keen that we do this now, as the economic downturn is an ideal time to get on with public works.

"We're very proud of our public works and working as fast as we can to get it finished in time for the World Snooker Championships."

Chief executive of Sheffield Theatres, Dan Bates, said it had been a "challenge" to have two major building projects – the redevelopment of both Tudor Square and the Crucible theatre – going on at the same time.

The Grade Two-listed Crucible closed in December 2007 for the extensive redevelopment but reopened temporarily for the 2008 and 2009 World Snooker Championships.

It has now partially opened for a series of "housewarming" events, along with a new caf bar on Tudor Square, "Crucible Corner."

Mr Bates added: "It's fantastic that Tudor Square is being done up to reflect the huge investment that's been put into the Crucible.

"The level of detail is great, as are the high-quality materials and the beautiful carved planters that are going in.

"When you walk up from the station now there's the gold route towards the university, and this was the missing link. It'll be very exciting to see what the Square looks like when it's finished. "

Prior to the redevelopment works beginning at Tudor Square, Sheffield Council carried out a public consultation on the changes. A total of 302 people returned questionnaires giving their views, with 83 per cent of respondents saying they were in favour of the redesign.

Daniel Evans, artistic director at Sheffield Theatres, added: "I'm confident that reopening the Crucible and the council's redevelopment of Tudor Square will see more visitors to Sheffield's cultural quarter."

Crumbling theatre given new life

The redevelopments at Tudor Square and the Crucible aren't the first major restoration works to take place in Sheffield's "cultural heart."

Back in 1985, Sheffield Council took over the crumbling Lyceum Theatre and spent 12m on revamping it over the next five years.

Built in 1897, the Lyceum is the only surviving theatre outside London designed by the famous theatre architect WGR Sprague and the last example of an Edwardian auditorium in Sheffield.

However, some 50 years after it was built, the theatre began experiencing financial difficulties and was forced to close in 1969. Although the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society succeeded in getting the building listed status in 1972, planning permission was sought for its demolition in 1975.

It was only after a campaign by the Society that, in July 1975, the Secretary of State dismissed the appeal and refused to allow the Lyceum to be demolished.

Over the years the theatre changed ownership five times, being used variously as a bingo hall and a rock concert venue.

By the time it was bought by Sheffield Council it was in a state of disrepair, but was completely revamped prior to its reopening in 1990.