Graves Park campaigners raise funds to renovate Rose Garden Cafe

The Rose Garden Cafe in Sheffield's Graves Park was opened in 1927

Campaigners are raising funds to renovate a popular park cafe which closed last year due to safety concerns.

The Friends of Graves Park (FOGP) said they were "very disappointed" Sheffield councillors had yet to decide on the future of the Rose Garden Cafe.

The cafe closed suddenly in July 2022 due to structural concerns. It reopened as takeaway-only in December.

The council has said it is assessing five options for the building.

These include demolition, structural stabilisation and refurbishment, and a complete rebuild.

Caroline Dewar of the FOGP said the group was frustrated to be "not really any further forward" after conducting an independent survey of the building in January.

'Work needs to be done'

She said "some work needs to be done" on the cafe's front wall but "how much needs to be spent on this" was unclear because certain checks had not been carried out.

"If the measurements were to show that the wall is not moving, then restoration of the building would be significantly cheaper than what the council is suggesting," she added.

The FOGP said the council claimed it could cost up to £1.7m to rebuild the cafe.

The charity told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it would continue to press for "restoration and renovation of this much-loved building".

It has raised more than £8,366 towards refurbishment, including £800 through sponsored walks in May. Further walks are planned for 19 August and 3 September.

Campaigners said they had also been pledged labour and materials worth thousands of pounds and another £20,000 in council community infrastructure levy (CIL) funding.

The council has said it is "committed to featuring a cafe in the park long-term" and was "gathering the relevant information and costs for every option".