IMAGES of Sheffield are being used to brighten up the city centre as more properties fall vacant, waiting for redevelopment.
Hoardings are being erected around buildings due to be demolished to make way for the £600m Sevenstone retail quarter between Barkers Pool, Pinstone Street and Moorhead.
They will have green vinyl frontages with framed images of Sheffield, designe
d by the council to give a uniform and tidy impression during the wait for the bulldozers.
Council leader Paul Scriven said: "It is important that we continue to attract visitors and local people into the city during development.
"Sheffield does not stand still and we want to ensure that vacant properties do not bring down the appearance of the city centre during this time of transition.
"We have been working closely with developer Hammerson to work up a solution that reanimates the properties within the development site and have now come up with a workable solution."
Delayed by the economic downturn, the developers have said that the construction of the retail quarter will not begin until the end of 2009 by the earliest.
The new hoardings are also likely to go up in other parts of the city centre, including The Moor, as other developers wait for the economic climate to improve.
What do you think? Add your comments below.
MORE:
Local News
Local Sport
Arts Guide
Listings Guide
Restaurant Guide
Letters