Restaurant plan for park's listed building

The lodge is at the Hunter’s Bar entrance to Endcliffe Park

A listed building in a Sheffield park could become a restaurant or bistro if an operator can be found to take it on.

The park lodge and pavilion in Endcliffe Park is near the Hunter’s Bar entrance and the well-known weeping beech tree.

Sheffield City Council said it will conduct a marketing exercise to see if there is any interest in operating it as a “commercial food and beverage offer”.

The building dates back to 1891 and was used as a home until July 2023. It is still used by council staff who look after the park.

The park is home to the Mi Amigo memorial, which is famously looked after by Tony Foulds

A meeting of the council’s charity trustee sub-committee approved the idea of gauging interest in the plan.

The park is one of several in the city owned by a charitable trust with the council as sole trustee and the sub-committee takes all decisions needed.

It is home to the memorial to the B-17 Flying Fortress, known as Mi Amigo, which crashed in the park in 1944.

It was made famous when TV presenter Dan Walker met eyewitness Tony Foulds, who regularly tends to the memorial.

'Bistro vibes'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the report said the charitable trust would benefit from the rent while the cost of repairs to the building would fall on the operator.

Parks and countryside officer Dave Rice said that there was potential for something that would complement the existing park cafe.

In response to a question from committee chair Councillor Richard Williams, he said a new venue could be “more bistro vibes, early evening”.

He said that the council keeps in regular contact with the operator of the park’s popular, family-friendly cafe has been kept fully informed and isn’t objecting.

Head of parks and countryside Ruth Bell said: “We’re looking to complement it, not compete with it.”

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