Plans to convert Sheffield’s former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) head office into a 24-hour casino establishment have been given the go-ahead by Sheffield city council. The structure residing within Holly Street will feature a 3,500 square metre gambling entertainment complex complete with elegant rooftop bar and two luxury restaurants.
A spokesman for developers Brook Leisure, Andrew Stevens, stated that Sheffield is currently the only city in the whole of the UK which doesn’t feature a large casino at its heart. Mr Stevens played down concerns in relation to audio disturbance in response to a number of objections towards the blueprints. Some individuals, it seems, have fears around late-night noise adding to the already major anti-social atmosphere in the city. Mr Stevens reassured the public, claiming: “We will certainly respect our neighbours. Noise from casinos is incredibly seldom, and considerably quieter than most other venues already in the city.”
The Sheffield council’s planning committee concluded that a casino could indeed help improve the area surrounding Sheffield City Hall. It explained that the proposed casino would generate a “significant contribution to the physical appearance of the building and the broader area”.
The building first opened in 1988 when the NUM migrated its head office from London to Sheffield. The office subsequently moved to Barnsley when the mining sector diminished. Brook Leisure reported that work is exptected to begin on the casino early in the year and that it would most likely be open by early to mid 2013. Close to 130 new jobs are predicted to be generated as a result of the project.