The project to restore the Rose Garden Café in Graves Park has made progress after another round of public consultation took place.
This third round of onsite consultation comes two weeks after the first, which took place over the Easter weekend.
Members of the public have expressed varied views about the progress of the refurbishment project.
Alan, 35, of Norton Lees said: “I look forward to a fully functional restaurant – I bring my kids to the petting zoo and it would be great to sit down for a bite to eat afterwards in these beautiful surroundings.”
Other people in the area did not have an optimistic view of the council’s involvement in the process.
Deborah, 67, of Woodseats, said: “Council didn’t maintain the building properly in the first place and now they are trying to wriggle out of fixing it.
“They originally wanted to close it down.
“It’s a listed building anyways, so they can’t make any changes to it, so what is the point of these consultations.”
The Rose Garden building was originally bequeathed to the people of Sheffield, along with the grounds of Grave’s Park by an Alderman named J.G. Graves in the 1920’s.
The building was eventually transformed into a restaurant which employed 12 people until it was closed by The Sheffield City Council in July 2022.
The council cited structural safety concerns as a reason for the closure.
The restaurant has since functioned as a takeaway kiosk but it is heavily scaffolded both inside and outside to support the structure.
A report last year revealed that £110,000 had been spent so far on scaffolding for the site.
The last city council meeting where the issue was addressed took place on the 31st of January 2024.
An engineering report evaluating issues with the walling of the café is expected to be released in mid-May.
An online survey, which is the main thrust of the public consultation, was launched on March 15th.
The partnership of ‘Save the Rose Garden Café’, ‘Friends of Graves Park’, and the Sheffield City Council urge the public to complete the survey to express their views on how the café should be utilised in future years.
The survey closes on the 19th April and results will be published to the “Have Your Say” website.
