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Report - - Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield - February 2014 | Leisure Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield - February 2014

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WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
History

Don Valley was originally built in 1990, at a cost of £29 million, to host the 1991 World Student Games. Although there was a signature-petition, one that gathered over 5000 signatures against the stadium's closure, Don Valley is now derelict and demolition work has already begun. The large stadium closed in September 2013 due to the unsustainable losses it was generating (£700,000 last year alone). Although the stadium has been largely funded by the public taxpayer since its opening, it is being removed and a smaller replacement is due to open on Woodburn Road. In the beginning there were plans to redevelop Don Valley as a 'sports and wellbeing park', in light of the so-called Olympic Legacy, yet no such development occurred. Instead, Jessica Ennis removed a small section of the track, as a momentum for her training days at Don Valley, and the bulldozers moved in!

Our Version of Events

I passed Don Valley stadium late one evening on the tram which passes the site, on my way to see the Lego Movie ;) and was shocked to see how much 'progress' there had been with regard to the demolition of the stadium. We decided to return the next day and had no difficulty getting inside. We managed to have a good look at the destruction and even got inside some of the old sections of the building that hadn't yet been destroyed. There was still plenty to see, but everything is not so awesome. I for one much preferred it the way it was! Unfortunately, our trip was cut short as security turned up. Fortunately we were stood behind a one-way tinted window, though, with us standing on the favourable side as the security guard walked past. Having decided that there was much machinery and demolition equipment around us, with the supposition that we probably didn't look like the most innocent party, we decided to make a hasty exit.

1: Stadium Entrance Gates

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2: Shot from Hillside

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3: Track Shot from Hillside

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4: Bar and Toilets

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5: Wasted Seating

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6: Fallen Canopy

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7: Inside the Bar

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8: Leftover Stuff

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9: Centre of Stadium from Stands

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10: Emergency Telephone

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JaneEyre

The clumsiest explorer in Yorkshire!
28DL Full Member
Nice report
Shame to see it go, we had many a school trip there!
x
 

andyg1983

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The last of the stands are down now, just the scoreboard base left as a vertical structure. Sad times.
 

andyg1983

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Yeah the last part on Worksop Road came down Thursday, started it around midday and was flat by 5pm. Sadly I have a front row seat to this show.
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
They'll be keen to build on the land I imagine. They're knocking quite a bit down in Sheffield at the moment. A lot of the Moor has gone now too.
 

Tobin22

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I'm personally gutted to see what has become of that place, I remember competing there at the Yorkshire Athletics Championships in 2007/08. Don't see why it couldn't have been downscaled and used for local kids to train and play, even for a kickabout!
 

andyg1983

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Probably bored of me saying this but I work less than 20 yards from the site. We have just been to see the plans for a school to be built there and the plan is for housing on the rest.

Good old Sheffield Council had used as a smoke screen that they were going to build a sporting UTC on the site, amazing how that soon went out the window.

Julie Door, you have failed this city!!
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
Probably bored of me saying this but I work less than 20 yards from the site. We have just been to see the plans for a school to be built there and the plan is for housing on the rest.

Good old Sheffield Council had used as a smoke screen that they were going to build a sporting UTC on the site, amazing how that soon went out the window.

Julie Door, you have failed this city!!

Cheers for sharing this. I had no idea what the plan were. Went past the old site the other day... It's a dump now. Big mounds of dirt and stuff. They've kept the gates by the look of things - Presumably to keep people out :)
 
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