Derby Assembly Rooms 'needs urgent demolition' to prevent roof collapse

Derby's Assembly Rooms "urgently" needs to be demolished, before its roof collapses, according to a new report.

The venue was badly damaged by a fire in 2014, and plans to renovate it were put on hold earlier this year due to concerns over costs.

Derby City Council said the roof is made of "reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete", which has led to structural collapses on similar buildings.

A replacement venue has been planned for the Becketwell area of the city.

The Assembly Rooms opened in 1977, but in 2014 a catastrophic fire that broke out in its roof car park saw the venue closed.

In 2018 the city council announced plans for the building to be refurbished, with a 3,000-capacity venue reopened as a music and performance centre in 2022.

Originally estimated to cost £15m, the price more than doubled, leading to the plans being deemed "financially unviable".

In the report outlining plans for demolition, the council said it would "remove an ongoing maintenance burden" and allow further regeneration of the city centre to take place.

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