Four years after fire caused “extensive damage” to Derby’s Assembly Rooms, the building is to be knocked down and replaced with a £44 million music and performance venue, the city council has revealed.
The 40-year-old Assembly Rooms has not been used since a fire in the plant room on the roof of its car park in March 2014. The plant room was responsible for the venue’s electricity and lighting.
A new multi-storey car park will also be built as well as the 3,000-seater auditorium. The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is giving a grant of £8.6 million and the council will borrow the rest of the money.
Many groups in the city complained that they had not been consulted about the future use of the Assembly Rooms. That led to a demonstration by theatre groups who were concerned that the new venue would concentrate on music and comedy shows.
A four-week consultation followed, with 1,006 people, 43% of those who responded, preferring the option of a music and performance building.
Council leader Councillor Ranjit Banwait said, “our opponents will seize on the opportunity to say this decision is overdue but it’s taken four years of diligence to reach this point.
“We’ve taken our time and we’ve made the numbers work. Our plans are not only affordable, but they’re what the city wants and what the city needs.”
The council will now look for additional sources of funding as well as searching for an operator to run the new Assembly Rooms which is expected to open in 2022 or 2023.