h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Pin, can I pick your Sheffield brains?

I'm compiling an entry on failed Millennium projects, and not surprisingly I've tapped into a rich vein of material. One I'd like to cover is the National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield. Can I ask you as a local for the general opinion there about this one?

From what I read, it seemed to fall into the category of "attraction that nobody would want to visit", i.e. commercial failure. I understand the building's a student union and music venue now. Was it used for anything else after its closure?

Any opinions gratefully received.

Icy

Hi Icy
This will be brief cos I'm limited to palmtop.
The 'Kettles' as they're known were indeed quite a flop. Nobody in immediate canvassing range has ever actually been inside. Known uses are those you mention. I'lll find more and report.
Notable piece of architecture, though. Not necessarily good, just notable. The plant that supplied the stainless steel has been closed, even.

Thanks Pin!

That one's definitely on the list then.

Anything local you can find will be gratefully received, but please don't spend too much time - particularly if you're on a palmtop.

Incidentally, are there any other comparable Y2K failures / white elephants in the wider North of England you can think of, off the top of your head. Most of the ones I have are in the South (Spinnaker Tower, Bath Spa, Dome, etc), and I'd like to balance it.

Icy

(p.s. I'm aware of the Earth Centre, Doncaster, so that'll be two Yorkies in the top ten)

Hi Icy

I found someone who stood up for the Kettles today - and moreover said it wasn't a Millennium Project (but a roughly contemporary one funded with lottery money)

Seem she may be right, too : http://www.newsco.co.uk/productsandservices/archive/ybi/2006-04/cover

Hi Pin,

Hmmm, yes, I think you're right. It's easy to get confused when it's built in 1999, and uses the kind of lottery money which hasn't been allocated via the Millennium Commission. The Bradford Life Force Centre (or whatever it wasn't called) comes into the same category.

Many thanks for the pointer - and the link, which is really useful. I was worried that everything was going to come from the Guardian site.

I think it's a cautionary tale to be told though. I'll just change the emphasis to the Top Ten Lottery-funded Disasters and add a section on the Millennium Commission.

Icy