The damage to the Grade II listed Derby Hippodrome that occurred on 28 March 2008 prompted the national organisation, The Theatres Trust, to say it ‘represents the worst case it has encountered since the Trust was established by Parliament in 1976.’
As of 17 July 2009, the Derby Hippodrome Restoration Fund has been established with the purpose of seeing the Hippodrome rebuilt and restored to use. The Fund is being helped by professionals in the entertainment, planning, historic buildings and legal industries. The immediate objective is to persuade the Councillors on the Planning Committee that the building has a better future for all as a theatre rather than a car park, which is the proposal they are considering.
The Chair of the Fund says: “The 58 objections posted on the council planning website against the proposal to convert the building into yet another car park give an idea of the strength of feeling among local people who want to save this important building. There would be many more objections if people hadn’t been misinformed that it was either too late or the cost too prohibitive to restore. We say it’s not too late, we don’t need another car park, but we do need a large theatre. The City Council is prosecuting the owner for damaging a listed building without authorisation, but we urge the Authority to be mindful of Government expectations to use its powers to protect this and all listed buildings.”
Derby is missing out on offering the complete cultural experience to local people and visitors to the City by not having its own major theatre capable of staging, in the right environment, plays, touring musicals, concerts, operas and ballet. Instead people travel to Nottingham and even Buxton to see what they cannot have in Derby. The City is losing huge cultural and financial investments.
The Derby Heritage and Environment Association for Residents and Traders, derbyHEART ”welcomes the restoration of the Hippodrome as a positive step in maintaining our heritage. It will form an essential beacon for the redevelopment of the Becketwell and Green Lane areas as well as providing an indispensible cultural centre for the City.” The Hippodrome was fortunately not “destroyed” by the damage done to it in March 2008 and much of it is perfectly sound. The Fund has calculated that the cost of restoration will be substantially less than that of a new building.
The immediate need is for the building to be protected against another winter, something that is neither complicated nor too expensive. We will be urging the Council to appeal to the relevant national external organisations to help carry out this urgent work.
For further information on the Hippodrome see: www.derbyhippodrome.co.uk Email us at: action@derbyhippodrome.co.uk Write to us at: PO Box 7824, DERBY, DE1 0TQ
i have read the above comments and can agree with some of them
the problem is that the site has now become a eye sore for local residents like myself.
these arguments will carry on untill either the building falls down or the place is demolished ..action speaks louder than words …and words is all i have heard for the last 12 months
Agreed – decisive action is required.
For me that’s a compulsory purchase order followed by the formation of a trust. This trust is given all the support it needs to drive a campaign to raise funds for restoration of the Hippodrome. However, it must have a deadline put on its activities.
If it can’t get everything in order by an agreed date then the council will have to decide the fate of the site.
Keith,this is exactly the sort of point the owner wants to hear. It is common practice when someone wants to get rid of a listed building they attempt to let it rot until people will start demanding its demolition. This would lead to English Heritage taking action to enforce a repair if the Council fails to acheve this action.
Don’t forget that the demolition was illegal and the owner has been found guilty as charged. He is due for sentemcing on April 28th.
The Council had issued an enforcement order to rebuild but suspended this to allow the owner to come up with proposals for something else that would benefit the cultural life of local people.
The owner has consistently ignored Council orders to secure the site by erecting hoardings and the Council say they will now do this. The owner has submitted several diffeerent plans for his car park but keeps changing the plans.
English Heritage and the Theatres Trust are demnding that the proposals by the Hippodrome Retoration Trust are thoroughly investigated and tested and have recommended that the Council should consider einstatement of the Enforcement Order to rebuild, or Compulsry Purchase or other means of taking the building off the owner.
English Heritage have warned that if we lose this building it will put other listed buildings in danger.
A restoration is not only possible, it is a likely outcome that would regenerate the whole area. The area is also due to become a Conservtion Area as soon as the final paperwork is completed.
At the end of the day the future of the building will be decided by the Secretary of State who are guided and advised by English Heritage. Listed Buildings are protected by law and Derby City Council could end up paying for the damage caused by the building’s owner if they fail to take the required actions.