An Oldham version of Sheffield’s Winter Garden could transform the town centre

THE Winter Garden has become a popular feature of Sheffield city centre

5 More Image(s) In Gallery

Think big to halt the decline

DOES Sheffield hold the key to regenerating Oldham town centre?

In the last years of the 20th century the Yorkshire city’s centre was in the doldrums. The steel industry for which the city was famous was decimated by closures and redundancies with the inevitable effect on the prosperity of the area.

The health of the city centre wasn’t helped by the opening of the giant Meadowhall shopping centre, which sucked trade away to the outskirts.

The city’s reaction was to set about revitalising its centre, and one of the jewels created is the Winter Garden, opened in 2002.

This giant temperate glasshouse — 230ft (70m) long, 72ft (22m) wide and 72ft (22m) high — has become one of the most popular features of the city centre, and figures among the top 10 most visited free attractions in Britain.

The glasshouse forms a part of a covered walkway between the Peace Gardens — a big outdoor open area with water features and space for events — and the Millennium Galleries, which are used to show off Sheffield’s metalworking past among other things, and the Crucible Theatre, Lyceum Theatre and art gallery area.

Work is going on at the moment to create a water feature as a continuation of the walkway.

The whole of Sheffield’s “Heart of the City” regeneration cost £120 million, but there’s no reason why Oldham should not steal one of the good ideas that made up the project.

There’s the perfect opportunity to create a similar modern, well-designed stunning building next to the old Town Hall, on the site of the car park and bus station.

What happens to the Town Hall itself?

If we are honest, it might be that we have no choice but to abandon hopes of preserving much of the building behind the original 1841 facade.

By all accounts, the state of the building — whoever is to blame — might make preservation simply too expensive.

If that is the case, then we should set our sights on creating something special for ourselves.

In Sheffield, the Winter Garden is flanked by galleries on one side and a classy new hotel on the other, as well as restaurants and offices.

Perhaps a hotel is not right for Oldham town centre, but there would be the chance to create a similar striking building joined to the glasshouse. Meanwhile, Oldham Winter Garden would provide a covered link between the town centre, the planned Metrolink Stop at Sainsbury’s and the Cultural Quarter.

If the Town Hall can be preserved intact, then it, too, could be linked to the glasshouse.

Too ambitious? Too expensive? The Sheffield Winter Garden was funded by the Millennium Commission, Sheffield City Council and English Partnerships — the Government’s national regeneration agency.

It is tougher than ever to put together funding for regeneration projects like this, but if Oldham doesn’t think big, it will carry on dwindling in stature, and surely everyone is fed up of that.

In Charlie Parker, we already have a Chief Executive whose background is in regeneration. Indeed, he used to be Director of Investment and Performance at English Partnerships, immediately before he came to Oldham. We have the knowledge.

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat administration has shown itself willing to try to improve our surroundings over the past couple of years, but we now need an explosion of all-party political will to carry forward a project like this.

Can we do it? Let’s say: “Yes we can!”