Derby Assembly Rooms: Music venue to be rebuilt after fire

The fire started in the plant room on the roof of the Assembly Rooms car park

A music venue that was badly damaged in a blaze in 2014 is to be knocked down and rebuilt.

Derby Assembly Rooms, where the fire broke out in its roof car park, will be demolished in 2020 and reopened as a music and performance venue in 2022.

Its replacement will be a 3,000-capacity venue, Derby City Council decided, after a public consultation involving more than 1,000 people.

As part of the £44m project, a larger multi-storey car park will be built.

An increase in council tax for Derby residents - up 6% this year - will help to pay for the project, the council said.

'It's a mess'

After the announcement on Tuesday, Martin Rawson, deputy leader of the city council, said: "It'll be a fantastic venue. It'll be an iconic building for Derby. The purpose of it is to re-invigorate the market place in terms of bringing an active frontage to this part of the market place."

The plan however, has been met with a mixed reaction on social media.

On Facebook, Jackie Mccloskey said: "What a waste of money what's wrong with refurbishment?"

While Martin Sims said: "Good - it's a mess" and Karen O'Donnell added "Brilliant".

The city council now needs to get planning permission and find an operator to run the venue.