- This topic has 30 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated September 20, 2007 at 10:55 pm by spark_plug.
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September 18, 2007 at 1:43 pm #1042394
Sheffield Needs You. SAVE THE COOLING TOWERS.Body: (Fwd from GO Sheffield)…
* COOLING THE TOWERS *
There are two cooling towers on the edge of Sheffield, next to Meadowhall and the M1.
Currently they mean grey, industrial, Full Monty. Sheffield is over.
We want to turn them into massive works of public art that mean what Sheffield is now: green, creative and different. And amazing.
We’ve been working on this for two years and from running an initial competition for ideas in our fanzine GO (http://www.dontgo.co.uk), we’re now working with Channel 4 as one of the winners of their Big Art Project (http://www.channel4.com/bigart). Channel 4 love the idea, and have applied for funding to make it a reality. This is possible. We’re almost there.
BUT there’s a baddy in the story. They’re a big baddy. The owners of the site are called Eon. They own Powergen. After four months of negotiations, and all our arguments for why this is a good idea (which you can find on our website) they’ve decided to knock the towers down and build another industrial shed.
Sheffield wins again.
We think this is too good an idea and too good a chance for Sheffield to just give up, and let them have their way. Knocking these towers down will be a tragedy.
So we need your help.
What if you’re not from Sheffield? This still affects you. It’s just another example of A Big Corporation with no brains doing what they want and ignoring people like you and me. We’re not luddites and we’re not revolutionaries. We’ve just got a good idea and they’re not interested in listening. Who decides how our cities develop, what they mean? Us or them?
* HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:* SIGN THIS PETITION. Someone’s already set a petition up. You can see how strongly people feel. Sign it here http://www.petitiononline.com/tct2/petition.html
* GO TO OUR MYSPACE. We’re working on a proper website, but for now this is the digital HQ. This is where you’ll information and updates. Be our friend. Get your friends to be our friends. http://www.myspace.com/coolingthetowers
* EMAIL EON. Tell them why they’re wrong. For some sample text, click here. Email the chief exec here: paul.golby@eon-uk.com That’s Dr Paul Golby to you. Evidently he’s not got a doctorate in Doing The Right Thing. It only takes five minutes. Do it now.
* TURN EON OFF. If you’re a customer, tell them you’ll change power suppliers if the towers are knocked down. In fact, just do it now. Why not go a bit greener? Eon produce more CO2 every year than the whole of Croatia. Change to Ecotricity http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/switch
* SHOW YOUR FACE. We’re going to create a photographic petition. As well as a list of names, we want to actually show the world how many people support these towers and this project. So if you do, take a picture of yourself, or the towers, or of you holding the phrase ‘THE TOWERS ARE OURS’ and send it to us with your name and location. We’ll put it on the website. And tell your friends to do it too. Send it here go.sheffield@gmail.com
We love this city so much. We’re not going to sit back and watch it lose out again. We’re tired of Sheffield being the loser. We want people across the world to know what this city means, realise how brilliant it is.We don’t want another toys r us.
Please help us.
Love from
GO X
September 20, 2007 at 10:08 am #1120385i dunno they look pretty ugly to me:yakk: :yakk: :yakk:
September 20, 2007 at 10:08 am #1141148i dunno they look pretty ugly to me:yakk: :yakk: :yakk:
September 20, 2007 at 1:08 pm #1120380Oh I dunno, PP. I think it’s more the sick-as-sin concrete M1 bridge and ugly steel fencing – the towers themselves look quite slim and elegant, especially compared to most stumpy old cooling towers.
Demolish the M1 so you can see them properly !!
September 20, 2007 at 1:08 pm #1141143Oh I dunno, PP. I think it’s more the sick-as-sin concrete M1 bridge and ugly steel fencing – the towers themselves look quite slim and elegant, especially compared to most stumpy old cooling towers.
Demolish the M1 so you can see them properly !!
September 20, 2007 at 1:48 pm #1120376people in sheff and surrounding areas feel pretty strongly about keeping them ..they are talking of doing something with them art design wise i think…if they knocked them down it would just be another empty space with nothing to look at….Save the Towers….raaa :group_hug :bounce_fl :bounce_g:
September 20, 2007 at 1:48 pm #1141140people in sheff and surrounding areas feel pretty strongly about keeping them ..they are talking of doing something with them art design wise i think…if they knocked them down it would just be another empty space with nothing to look at….Save the Towers….raaa :group_hug :bounce_fl :bounce_g:
September 20, 2007 at 1:57 pm #1120373Sorry if this sounds harsh but I don’t think E-ON are a big corporation with “no brains”, they are in fact being very shrewd and ruthless. Its down to the markets though, E-ON (powergen?) are accountable to their shareholders..
I can see the point in keeping the towers (indeed, even some buildings like smaller local substations have suprisingly ornate architecture) but There’s currently a boom economy in sheffield as companies there have wrestled away work from the South, and demand for commercial property currently remains high. E-ON have to balance the return on investment from selling or renting the towers for the art centre against redeveloping the site for another office building, and I bet the land is currently worth more for redevelopment.
that said there is potentially a massive bear-market / property price crash on the way so maybe if the debate drags on conditions may change – it might then be less favourable to redevelop the towers…
September 20, 2007 at 1:57 pm #1141137Sorry if this sounds harsh but I don’t think E-ON are a big corporation with “no brains”, they are in fact being very shrewd and ruthless. Its down to the markets though, E-ON (powergen?) are accountable to their shareholders..
I can see the point in keeping the towers (indeed, even some buildings like smaller local substations have suprisingly ornate architecture) but There’s currently a boom economy in sheffield as companies there have wrestled away work from the South, and demand for commercial property currently remains high. E-ON have to balance the return on investment from selling or renting the towers for the art centre against redeveloping the site for another office building, and I bet the land is currently worth more for redevelopment.
that said there is potentially a massive bear-market / property price crash on the way so maybe if the debate drags on conditions may change – it might then be less favourable to redevelop the towers…
September 20, 2007 at 2:02 pm #1120386sorry general but i didnt really get anything of what u said (im a bit dumb really), but i think littl powerstations do have such good architechture and spark plug said about a club being in an old abandoned substation. but two old rotting towers, whitch are just really boring, they should rip them down and put some nice art there or nice buildings instead of doing those towers up that just have gone past there sell by date
September 20, 2007 at 2:02 pm #1141149sorry general but i didnt really get anything of what u said (im a bit dumb really), but i think littl powerstations do have such good architechture and spark plug said about a club being in an old abandoned substation. but two old rotting towers, whitch are just really boring, they should rip them down and put some nice art there or nice buildings instead of doing those towers up that just have gone past there sell by date
September 20, 2007 at 2:11 pm #1120374Quote:but i think littl powerstations do have such good architechture and spark plug said about a club being in an old abandoned substation. but two old rotting towers, whitch are just really boring, they should rip them down and put some nice art there or nice buildings instead of doing those towers up that just have gone past there sell by dateI find it slightly ironic all these arty people are wanting to keep a “dirty old chimbley”, especially as it seems the power company are wanting to replace it with a more eco-friendly power station and some sort of art thing!
(I could understand if it were a whole powerstation like Battersea but even then this took up a lot of money and false starts and its still not redeveloped..)
Down south most people are happy to see these old buildings blown up, and people enter raffles to get to press the button on the detonator.
round my way (both in Reading and now increasingly in Ipswich) I’ve seen loads of old buildings knocked down over the years. its a shame but its sometimes just not cost effective to keep them, although in some cases they have been preserved.
Maybe its a Northern thing (probably influenced by Fred Dibnah).
September 20, 2007 at 2:11 pm #1141138Quote:but i think littl powerstations do have such good architechture and spark plug said about a club being in an old abandoned substation. but two old rotting towers, whitch are just really boring, they should rip them down and put some nice art there or nice buildings instead of doing those towers up that just have gone past there sell by dateI find it slightly ironic all these arty people are wanting to keep a “dirty old chimbley”, especially as it seems the power company are wanting to replace it with a more eco-friendly power station and some sort of art thing!
(I could understand if it were a whole powerstation like Battersea but even then this took up a lot of money and false starts and its still not redeveloped..)
Down south most people are happy to see these old buildings blown up, and people enter raffles to get to press the button on the detonator.
round my way (both in Reading and now increasingly in Ipswich) I’ve seen loads of old buildings knocked down over the years. its a shame but its sometimes just not cost effective to keep them, although in some cases they have been preserved.
Maybe its a Northern thing (probably influenced by Fred Dibnah).
September 20, 2007 at 2:29 pm #1120377its called yorkshire grit…..standing up for what you believe in, saying what you mean an meaning what you say :love:
why should they get rid of the towers raaa Save the Towers people :group_hugSeptember 20, 2007 at 2:29 pm #1141141its called yorkshire grit…..standing up for what you believe in, saying what you mean an meaning what you say :love:
why should they get rid of the towers raaa Save the Towers people :group_hugSeptember 20, 2007 at 2:37 pm #1120375april wrote:its called yorkshire grit…..standing up for what you believe in, saying what you mean an meaning what you say :love:why should they get rid of the towers raaa Save the Towers people :group_hug
whose going to pay for their upkeep though? These days grit needs to be backed up with brass.. most structures of this age (if not in active operational use) are falling apart inside and need maintenance.
I had a look on the murdochspace and couldn’t find any concrete (no pun intended!) plans for how the art project would be funded and thats the important thing – perhaps these plans exist somewhere (even in outline form) but I couldn’t find any info..
Apparently this campaign has been running 2 years, maybe this post should have been on here in 2005?
September 20, 2007 at 2:37 pm #1141139april wrote:its called yorkshire grit…..standing up for what you believe in, saying what you mean an meaning what you say :love:why should they get rid of the towers raaa Save the Towers people :group_hug
whose going to pay for their upkeep though? These days grit needs to be backed up with brass.. most structures of this age (if not in active operational use) are falling apart inside and need maintenance.
I had a look on the murdochspace and couldn’t find any concrete (no pun intended!) plans for how the art project would be funded and thats the important thing – perhaps these plans exist somewhere (even in outline form) but I couldn’t find any info..
Apparently this campaign has been running 2 years, maybe this post should have been on here in 2005?
September 20, 2007 at 5:33 pm #1120379
Save the Towers !
September 20, 2007 at 5:33 pm #1141142Save the Towers !
September 20, 2007 at 6:07 pm #1120387come on ppl, make it happenBLOOWWW UP xxxxxTHExxxxx TOWERRSSS!!!!
September 20, 2007 at 6:07 pm #1141151come on ppl, make it happenBLOOWWW UP xxxxxTHExxxxx TOWERRSSS!!!!
September 20, 2007 at 6:09 pm #1120381nooooooooooooooo
Keep them wild as an urban exploration training site !
September 20, 2007 at 6:09 pm #1141144nooooooooooooooo
Keep them wild as an urban exploration training site !
September 20, 2007 at 7:07 pm #1120388leave them as they are, they’re amazing
September 20, 2007 at 7:07 pm #1141152leave them as they are, they’re amazing
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