‘Iconic’ artwork by Turner Prize winner to be installed at city’s old Crown Court building

Plans have been approved to fit a neon sculpture, by artist Martin Creed, saying ‘everything is going to be alright’ in white lettering above the entrance to the historic building.

The Grade II* listed building, which has been empty for more than three decades, is due to be transformed into a public events space as part of plans to regenerate the city’s civic quarter.

Documents submitted to Wakefield Council said the work would aim to put the old courthouse “back on the map” as a destination for visitors to the city.

A planning application described Wakefield-born Creed as a “globally acclaimed” contemporary artist.

Creed won the Turner Prize in 2001 and has previously exhibited work at Tate Britain, London, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Installations similar to the one planned for Wakefield have also been displayed on other prominent buildings around the world, including in Times Square, New York, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

A planning statement by Leeds-based developers Rushbond said: “The proposed installation by Martin Creed on one of the city’s landmark buildings offers a positive message, on a broad level, at a time of change within this part of the city centre.

“It intends to offer reassurance and can be interpreted as a direct reference to the positive regeneration efforts underway at the courthouse itself, as well as the immediate area – which will see considerable construction activity over the next couple of years – and in the wider city centre.”

In 2021, the council agreed to convert the civic quarter into a new neighbourhood with new homes and public facilities.

Plans include re-purposing one of the most historic areas of the city centre as a place where people can live, work and socialise.

The former Wood Street Police Station is being converted into flats as part of the project.

The scheme also includes building townhouses on council-owned car parks at Rishworth Street and Gills Yard.

The old courthouse was built in 1810 in the neo-Greek style and extended in 1849 and 1850.

It has been derelict since it closed in 1992 and is due to be reopened after being bought by the council.

The statement added: “It can also be seen as a reference to the historic role of the courthouse and the fate of those on trial in the building during its Georgian and Victorian heyday.

“More generally, it aims to attract new visitors into the city centre, as well as providing comfort to more local communities that ‘everything is going to be alright’.

“This is one of Martin Creed’s most iconic works, that aims to interact with the viewer, to create a reaction and stir emotions.’’

The work was also welcomed by Wakefield Civic Society.

Society president Kevin Trickett said: “That the installation has been designed by internationally acclaimed – and Wakefield-born – prize-winning artist Martin Creed and follows similar installations by the same artist on other prominent buildings around the world, can only help underscore Wakefield’s ambitions to be a city of culture and creativity.”

A planning officer’s report said the installation was designed to clamp onto the building and would will not be permanently fixed to it.

The council’s conservation officer said illuminated signs were “not generally supported within conservation areas” but there were “public benefits that justify the proposal.”

Approval was granted subject to a condition that the work is displayed for a maximum of five years.