APPENDIX 17
Memorandum submitted by Sheffield City
Council
You wrote to me on 18th April 2000 seeking a
written memorandum on the Sheffield Project and this response
aims to meet that requirement.
PROJECT OUTLINE
The project is in respect of the regeneration
of the Heart of the City of Sheffield with the aim of enhancing
the public environment of the City, its local economy and the
creation of gateways between the public transport terminals and
the City Centre, thereby enhancing the City's attractiveness to
business, commerce and tourism. The specific project includes
the remodelling of the City Centre Peace Gardens, Hallam Square,
Town Hall Square, the demolition of the Town Hall Extension, together
with the construction of a Millennium Art Gallery affiliated to
the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Winter Garden.
The Millennium scheme provides the nucleus and
indeed catalyst to a far wider City Centre re-development proposal
being undertaken and funded by commercial development.
The City Council is the organisation in receipt
of the grant and they are acting as client and project managers
for the scheme.
The project marks the Year 2000 most specifically
by the provision of a National Gallery, a visually breathtaking
Winter Garden and the already completed high quality public open
spaces which are highly acclaimed by both the general public and
specialist technical commentators.
THE ROLE
OF THE
MILLENNIUM COMMISSION
The Millennium Commission has provided an extremely
robust and exacting system of appraisal, monitoring, grant draw
down and administration, principally through a developed scheme
of monthly meetings together with quarterly meetings between the
respective Chief Executives of the Commission and the City Council.
At the same time, the Millennium Commission has been very helpful
in their role in ensuring the project delivery to exacting targets.
PROJECT BUDGET
The project budget, at the time of the application
and award by the Millennium Commission, was £41 million.
The amount of grant awarded was £20.5 million.
The current estimate of the budget is £41
million, and the matched funding is as follows:
— European Development Fund—£4
million
— Single Regeneration Budget—£0.50
million
— Yorkshire Forward—£3.52
million
— Hallam University—£1.17
million
— Public Sponsors and Donations—£0.60
million
— Private Sector Developer—£4.10
million
— Sheffield City Council Transport
Programme—£2.35 million
— Sheffield City Council land—£1.90
million
— Sheffield City Council other—£2.36
million
PROJECT TIMETABLE
The forecast timetable at the time of the grant
was, for completion of the three main elements, as follows:
— Public Realm Works—November
1998.
— Gallery Public Opening—4th
April 2001.
— Winter Garden Public Opening—February
2002.
The current estimated timetable for the completion
of the project is:
— Public Realm Works—November
1998.
— Gallery Public Opening—4th
April 2001.
— Winter Garden Public Opening—May
2002.
Delays in related scheme projects prevented
the vacating of the Town Hall Extension to the programme within
the project budget resulting in delayed starts to the Millennium
Gallery and Winter Garden. Related scheme programmes are now considered
secure.
LONG-TERM
VIABILITY
The only quasi-commercial aspect of the scheme
is the Millennium Gallery for which a realistic business plan
has been produced. This can briefly be summarised as a revenue
requirement from the City Council based on existing commitments
to Museums and Galleries of £479,000 per annum to allow free
entry to some of the Gallery areas. Admission income is projected
as £100,000 per annum which is based on 40,000 paying visitors
and an adult admission price of £3.95 including VAT. The
overall price is geared down by a factor of 70 per cent to allow
for concessions. Whilst the business plan is considered to be
realistic, there are concerns about national policies on the move
to free access to Galleries and Museums and that in the short-term
this may disadvantage regional galleries.
The viability of the public squares in terms
of both public amenity and appearance is dependent on security
and maintenance regimes. The recipient has taken steps to ensure
these are in place and has, in addition, enacted local by-laws
to prevent the use of the high quality public areas by skateboarders,
and is in the course of providing a public skateboard park.
I hope the above is satisfactory for your needs.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further
amplification or explanation.
June 2000
| 
