Assembly Rooms demolition and Market Place revamp finally going ahead
It comes on the 10th anniversary of the fire that ultimately closed the Brutalist venue
On the 10th anniversary of the fire that closed Derby's Assembly Rooms, the city council has announced the demolition of the almost 47-year-old building will begin in autumn to clear the site and make way for a new multimillion-pound cultural, commercial and creative public space in its place. The future of the building had been under the spotlight almost from when it closed, following a fire on top of the adjacent car park on March 14, 2014.
A remarkably ugly building, it was quite an achievement to plan and build something so horrible, Derby will be well rid of it. Unfortunately, here's what is supposed to replace it. Sounds suspiciously like twaddle to me...
Okay - it obviously is twaddle.
Mrs Peatfield said: "For the past ten years the Assembly Rooms has stood empty, waiting to be regenerated into a hub of cultural activity. After several unviable plans being put forward over the past decade, this administration is confident that we can deliver on these plans for the citizens of Derby. I’m thrilled to be announcing that we plan to progress on the demolition of the Assembly Rooms this autumn.
"We’re on a journey to transform Derby into a vibrant city centre with culture at its heart, creating a go-to destination which not only attracts visitors from outside of the wider region but also offers an affordable place for our citizens to enjoy. It’s fantastic to see change happening in the city centre, with the Market Place taking centre stage at the heart of Derby’s transformation."
Mrs Peatfield said: "For the past ten years the Assembly Rooms has stood empty, waiting to be regenerated into a hub of cultural activity. After several unviable plans being put forward over the past decade, this administration is confident that we can deliver on these plans for the citizens of Derby. I’m thrilled to be announcing that we plan to progress on the demolition of the Assembly Rooms this autumn.
"We’re on a journey to transform Derby into a vibrant city centre with culture at its heart, creating a go-to destination which not only attracts visitors from outside of the wider region but also offers an affordable place for our citizens to enjoy. It’s fantastic to see change happening in the city centre, with the Market Place taking centre stage at the heart of Derby’s transformation."
6 comments:
I love the idea of a "go-to destination". Chat GPT could replace this bloke and you could save some money.
Sam - yes it's a go-to attention grabber. Better than a "go-once destination" I suppose, but not much.
Out of use for ten years?
Sounds like all those essential tax payer "funded" workers who stayed at home for The Great Covid plague and were never missed. Unlike the people who kept our shops going.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zx7ik5uiwdQ
Can't they just fix it? It looks lovely
(And yes, definately twaddle)
Starting at college when I was 17, in my local town of High Wycombe, the new Octagon shopping centre was being built, some of which was connected by deep walkways to the college. All tiles and shuttered concrete everywhere, entombing some old shops and sweeping away others. I thought it was grotesque and awful then and I've never got used to it.
Doonhamer - those essential tax payer "funded" workers could be filling in the potholes now, but pothole fillers seem to be working from home too.
Bucko - in a way they are fixing by demolishing it, the fix we've been waiting for.
Tammly - I remember that kind of development, it never seemed to work.
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