Sheffield retro: remembering the legendary Republic - which drew in clubbers from New York City

The dance explosion was at its commercial height and a glut of new bars and venues had opened. The renaissance could arguably be traced back to The Republic. The £1.4million scheme took nearly three years to get off the ground and eventually became the home of Gatecrasher in the late 1990s.

No venue defined the growing confidence in Sheffield's evening economy better than the Republic. Though its life was a rollercoaster from beginning to end, the significance of what it achieved was pivotal for the growth and profile of the evening economy for the rest of the 1990s and beyond.

Its transformation of the former Roper and Wreaks steelworks into a state-of-the-art nightclub was truly breathtaking. The scheme to get the place up and running lasted nearly three years, with a long running battle to try and get a licence being played out in the press.

The original plan was for the 1,200 capacity venue to be far more than your average nightclub - and initially it was. The drinks licence was finally granted at Sheffield Crown Court by Judge Tom Cracknell, who overturned a previous ruling. The Republic was the city's first new nightclub in over 12 years.

Five young entrepreneurs were behind the project: Anwar Akhtar, Neil Midgley, Jerome Curran, Tony Fitzgerald and Fran Hilbert. Anwar Akhtar and Jerome Curran first came to Sheffield as students and started promoting club nights in the late 1980s at the then Locarno (later to be renamed the Palais, then Music Factory and then, at the end of the decade, BED). They started with student night, 'Blow Out', which regularly attracted over 1,000 on a Thursday night.

The Republic initially offered daytime cafe, gallery and exhibition space, office accommodation and more. It opened its doors in late 1995 to huge anticipation. The interior was truly staggering and blended the heavy industry of Steel City with 20th century clubbing chic.

House and garage were the mainstay of the weekend with 'superstar' DJs like Jeremy Healy and Roger Sanchez performing, whilst the likes of Disco 2000 indie night and the Bomb student night were keeping the tills ringing in the week.

But it took its sale to Gatecrasher to turn the Republic into one of the most successful venues of the era as the Birmingham brand developed its quest for after dark domination. Every name DJ worth his or her salt spun the decks at the venue together with a worthy local resident, one Matt Hardwick.

Although the building will be best remembered as the permanent home of Gatecrasher (it burnt down a few years later), it also played host to ground-breaking gigs in its early Republic days. Everyone from the Longpigs to Pulp graced the stage.

*Content supplied by Neil Anderson. Taken from the ‘Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1990s Sheffield’ – available from www.dirtystopouts.com