Work has already begun on the £4.1m investment in the Knowledge Gateway in Sheffield, transforming the corridor running from Fitzalan Square to Brown Street.
Fitzalan Square and streets Esperanto Place and Paternoster Row will be transformed as part of the initiative; enhancing the accessibility, safety and lifting the overall environment to encourage new investment and jobs in an area with significant potential for growth.
The funding boost for the Knowledge Gateway has come from the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) along with funds from Sheffield City Council and Sheffield Hallam University.
Following the renovation of the former head post office in Fitzalan Square as Sheffield Institute of Arts (SIA), Sheffield City Council announced plans earlier this year to upgrade the route from the Edwardian-era square along Pond Street to Paternoster Row and Brown Street as well as improving connections to the city centre and station. The roadway will be altered, allowing for improved pedestrian walkways; the area will be re-paved, the bus stop and taxi rank will be retained, but further down Pond Street. The existing trees will be replaced, 13/14 trees will be planted throughout the scheme, with more green space and planting areas.
Paternoster Row is the main street of the Cultural Industries Quarter, home to the Showroom, Workstation, Site Gallery, Yorkshire Artspace and Sheffield Hallam’s Student Union building, but it is also dominated by fast-moving buses and taxis with little pedestrian space; plans are to widen the pavement while maintaining the existing parking and adding in a new cycle path.
This work will support the development of Sheffield Hallam campus complimenting Phase One of the Campus Masterplan and increase the attractiveness of visiting and working in the area.
Works on the Knowledge Gateway have already begun in May and should be completed in June 2019. Although the schedule is still to be finalised we are working closely with Sheffield City Council and will keep you up to date, and ensure any disruptions are communicated through the works.
There is no doubt that Fitzalan Square needs improving to bring it back to what it once was, one of Sheffield’s proudest and most distinctive public squares.
The council has already played a part in bringing the old post office back into use and this scheme can now help the wider area to thrive, creating jobs and boosting the businesses and galleries from Castlegate to Paternoster Row.
Councillor Mazher Iqbal, cabinet member for business and investment at Sheffield City Council