A major fire 12 months ago which closed Derby’s Assembly Rooms was due to failings in its design and maintenance, according to a draft report.
The venue, run by Derby City Council, has yet to reopen. The authority puts at £5.5 million the cost of the fire and lost revenue, including that from the 2014 panto.
Extensive damage was caused to the plant room on the roof of the Assembly Rooms car park. That meant the venue had neither electricity nor lighting.
More than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze. The Assembly Rooms, which was built in 1977, was cleared and no one was hurt.
A draft report drawn up by consultants BB7 says there were two fires, the second one caused by polystyrene used to fill holes where pipes had gone through internal fire walls.
“It appears as if the polystyrene began to melt and gave off smoke. This caused a secondary fire in the riser next to the stair adjacent to the car park,” says the report. It adds that significant alterations and repairs would be required before the building could reopen.
The council’s acting chief executive Paul Robinson said polystyrene had been used when the ventilation system had been initially installed and the authority had not replaced it.
“Any work that we’ve done in the Assembly Rooms has been fully compliant with modern building regulations and they have been delivered to a specification that is required by law.
“Any building that age wouldn’t comply with modern fire regulations. The building did stand up to that very large fire and it didn’t spread to the auditorium. Although there are points to learn, the actual fire safety systems did work.”
The city council will now discuss the draft report with BB7 before it is submitted to the authority’s insurers. Mr Robinson added that the authority was “very near” to a negotiated settlement with its insurers.
The council will discuss at its meeting on Wednesday 4 March whether to repair the Assembly Rooms or demolish it.