Elections 2022: Derby Assembly Rooms - 'What are we waiting for?'

On 5 May, as people across the country take to the polling stations in the local elections, there will be many issues on their minds.

Derby City Council is one of the local authorities hosting elections, with a third of its seats to be decided.

Residents have been talking about things that matter to them, with one such issue being the future of the Derby Assembly Rooms, the city centre performance venue which closed following a fire in 2014.

Marion Shardlow, 72, of Alvaston, said: "We used to go to the beer festivals and the shows, then there was the fire."

She said her brother-in-law was a builder who had worked on the venue following the fire and believed the building was not badly damaged.

"[He] said there was just a bit of black smoke.

"It's perfectly sound and the council has lost thousands and thousands of pounds all the years it has been shut," she said.

"So why are we waiting? What are we waiting for?"

Anita Gill, 34, of Cavendish in Derby, who works as a warehouse operative in Alvaston, said she would like to see the building refurbished for the city's young people.

"They could turn it into a community centre for the youth, just give them a place where they can do things to keep them off the streets getting in trouble," she said.

"I think that would be something good for the younger generation.

"There are a lot of young people who don't have anything to do, especially during the holidays when they are off school. Parents are at work and they are free, on the street."

Katie York, 27, from Sinfin, said: "I do think it's bad they're not open.

"I have special needs and I am going blind.

"I used to love the Assembly Rooms and now it's gone it feels like you have nowhere to go.

"Instead of it being something like a theatre, it should be somewhere for kids' activities."

Sarah Brown, 51, said: "I think it is terrible it has been empty for that long. We need something back - I don't know what the plan is.

"It was nice inside. From what we hear, the damage wasn't that bad so I think they should get it up and running with something but quite what, I don't know.

"I don't think it needs knocking down but we could really do with something. I don't know quite what they'd use it for."

Barry Boole, 75, of Spondon, said: "It's a joke. They should have had something done in the first six months.

"The building is quite adequate."

His wife Jackie Boole, 74, said: "We lost that as a very central venue for concerts and shows, and different things.

"That's made a big difference. It was a good meeting place - it had parking so that was handy. Like my husband says, I think it should have been dealt with straight away."

Robert Francis, 56, who owns a convenience store in Spondon, said: "I think it should be knocked down."

Derby Conservative Party leader Chris Poulter, who is the current council leader, said: "There are many reasons why it has had to stand empty for a long while but we prefer to look towards the future. The future is the Market Place being the cultural heart of the city."

He said they were planning to make the Assembly Rooms site a learning theatre to replace the theatre currently in the Derbion shopping centre and were working with the university, other partners and architects on a design.

"We would attach that to the Quad," he added.

Mr Poulter said the timescale would depend on the funding they could secure but he believed that, along with the Guildhall and Market Hall refurbishments, the project would "create a catalyst for a proper night time economy".

In response to claims the Assembly Rooms were not badly damaged, he said: "On the face of it, no, it doesn't look horrendous but... the roof isn't safe in certain sections and would be a massively expensive cost to replace."

He explained the fire was in the plant room on the car park which provided heating, electric, and air conditioning to the venue, and smoke also went through cables and vents which would need replacing.

He added parts of the building were found to contain asbestos.

He said: "After several months of looking at refurbishing the place, the roof was the catalyst to say it was not financially viable for redevelopment.

"We are absolutely clear now there is no other option than demolish it and redevelop the area."

Nadine Peatfield, deputy leader of Derby Labour Group, said: "It is a great frustration, especially when we know had our plans gone ahead that were put in place in 2018 then we would have a new venue opening this year."

She added a significant amount of funding went into Labour's plan "so it is highly frustrating that it is still empty and unused and, of course, all the money that has been wasted in between times".

Ms Peatfield added that while she would wholeheartedly support the authority's plan to develop the site as a theatre, she felt it was already over-committed with other plans around the city.

She said that, if the site could not be developed as a theatre, she would like to see a shared public space which, she said, was desperately needed in the city centre.

"That is the most important thing: to attract people into the city centre and keep them there, have them entertained, eating and shopping," she said.

She added with any plans they would have to weigh up the carbon impact of knocking the building down - as was originally Labour's plan in 2018 - with the cost of keeping its shell and renovating it.

Ruth Skelton, leader of Derby Liberal Democrats, said they were open minded about the building's future and "would encourage people to have ideas about what they might want to do".

She added: "We all have to change the way we start to think about carbon.

"So the first step in the process it to look at whether the building can be re-used, internally adapted."

She said when the Lib Dems controlled the council, the council house was refurbished.

"We do feel that would be the first thing to start thinking about, rather than scrapping it and building something new," she said.

"It could be some sort of public venue still - there are probably a mixture of uses it could be put to.

"I believe the university is interested in it. They may have something in particular in mind. As ever, it is always money as well and can the money be found?"

Alan Graves, leader of Derby Reform party, said: "It has been a difficult issue for a long time. We are not convinced the building couldn't be brought back into use.

"However, I understand a cabinet decision has been made to demolish it.

"If we were in charge, we would try to refurbish it."

He said they would keep it as an entertainment venue.

"Derby has missed out because we have had so many entertainment venues close down that we are not getting income for that," he said.

"It is a really silly and sad state of affairs the council has got itself into, not being able to provide decent entertainment which does affect the economy, particularly in Derby city centre."

He added the reason it had been empty for so long was partly due to the "dithering" of the parties that have been in charge.

Helen Hitchcock, the coordinator for the Derby Greens, said: "My mother went to the opening concert and, as a violinist, I have performed in most of the spaces there with various groups, so I know there is a lot of affection for the Assembly Rooms in Derby.

"From a green perspective, the carbon cost of demolishing such a building is huge.

"It's often better to reuse and refurbish such spaces.

"It's an extremely unusual and unique building of a kind you don't really see outside London. Yes, I agree it's not to everybody's taste but it's a very adaptable space and a great loss to artists in the area.

"Derby used to have a thriving arts scene and we should be working to bring it back to life as a means of reviving the city centre.

"I know there is also a development at Becketwell but is there a limit on how many cultural spaces a city can have?"

A full list of candidates can be found here.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].