Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park receives £4.9m funding boost

The Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) has been awarded £4.9m by the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund (SCRIF).

SCRIF is the Sheffield City Region’s major capital investment fund; it comprises government funding as well as contributions from local authorities and private sector partners.

The fund aims to deliver strategic infrastructure and increase economic growth and jobs in the Sheffield City Region.

The 35-acre Olympic Legacy Park is being developed in the East End of Sheffield. It is expected that the Park will help create 1,000 jobs, and already counts the investment of companies like Toshiba and Westfield Health.

The SCRIF funding will be invested in creating the public realm and infrastructure, which includes green spaces, drainage, utilities and spaces for developing health and sport innovations in the external environment.

Plans include the development of a variety of natural habitats with flora and fauna, an orchard with fruit trees and vantage points offering views of Sheffield.

The park landscape will be designed to provide opportunities for a variety of outdoor recreation activities such as running, walking and cycling. There will also be a flexible car parking area which can be transformed into outdoor spaces for major sports events.

Sir Nigel Knowles, chair of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The funding from the Sheffield City Region Investment Fund will go a long way towards finalising the Olympic Legacy Park’s ambitious vision.

“The collaborative nature of the Park, the planning of which brought together organisations and individuals from the public and private sectors from across the region, is representative of the practical and community-based work ethic that makes the SCR such a straightforward and reliable place to do business.

“In the Sheffield City Region we are proud of just getting the job done. The OLP is just another of our many recent successes, and the LEP looks forward to facilitating further similar partnerships in the future.”

Work is due to start in September this year and is expected to be completed by March 2017. It will be delivered by three Sheffield-based companies – ARES Landscape Architects, ARUP and Turner and Townsend.

The OLP is a joint venture between Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield City Council.

Richard Caborn, project lead for the Olympic Legacy Park, said: “The Olympic Legacy Park will bring to life this part of Sheffield with a revolutionary and collaborative approach to health and wellbeing, combining academia and industry.

“Replicating the hugely successful Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) model, the partnerships created will produce a living laboratory linking physical activity, health and wellbeing research, professional and community sport and education.

“As a part of the Innovation District, which stretches across the Olympic Legacy Park and AMRC, this exciting project is already driving economic growth and jobs for the Sheffield City Region and will continue to put the region on the map as a model for best practice in innovation and collaboration.”