We saw that the cooling towers made a very brief reappearance on the Channel 4 Big Arts programme a couple of Sundays ago. Representing the sentiments of much of the city, the lads at GO, looked pretty cheesed off when their hopes to build a new piece of public art were quashed following the demolition of the towers on August 24th 2008.

The city may not need to look so glum; blowing rollies whimsically out the window, for there is hope of a revival for those concrete behemoths, as well as their raison d’etre, the former Blackburn Meadows power station itself.

A new project, called Echoes of Blackburn Meadows, comprises Public Geographer Jen Rich and two Sound Artists Lewis Heriz and Tom Dixon. The team is constructing an audio installation using a series of hidden, solar powered transmitters located across a two-mile route close to the site of the former power station. The aim of the project is to reanimate the history of landscape using witnesses to its evolution over the past 100 years. Walkers will navigate a landscape of memories using a map and an FM radio receiver, which will be available for free from local libraries.

The idea of evolution, as well as the cyclic nature of pasts and futures, is crucial to the artwork as the team hopes to return the area to its wild and woolly state. The trio has teamed up with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) to spruce up the two-mile stretch of public footpath in which the artwork is to be installed. 50 16-25 year old volunteers from the local community will be given the responsibility of co-ordinating a structured conservation and landscaping programme.

The team is currently looking for funding to launch a prototype of the installation in September this year.

We think this is a fantastic venture; breathing new life into an area which most of the city turned its backs on the moment the two towers fell to the ground.

For more info, head to the Echoes MySpace at www.myspace.com/blackburnmeadows or the project’s temporary website www.sheffieldelectricity.com.

Tags: Posted by Paul

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