Becketwell Performance Venue: Demolition site prepared

The venue is phase two of the £200m Becketwell regeneration scheme

Work on preparing a site for a planned new £45m arena for Derby has begun.

The 3,500-capacity Becketwell Performance Venue will replace the Assembly Rooms, which was damaged in a fire in 2014.

The city council said Derby-based firm Cawarden had been appointed demolition contractors for the former Pink Coconut nightclub, NCP car park, Padley House and Dubrek Studios.

The authority described the work as an "important milestone".

Cawarden has started preparing for the work, following its demolition of Derby's former Debenhams store, which also occupied part of the proposed Becketwell site, in summer 2020.

The firm also knocked down the former Central United Reformed Church and properties on Victoria Street in March 2021.

It is currently stripping the interior of the Pink Coconut - a famous Derby venue in the 1980s and 90s - with the council saying around 95% of the building's fixtures and fittings are due to be recycled.

The team are stripping the interior of the Pink Coconut

The authority said scaffolding would be erected shortly, followed by the demolition of the first three storeys. Asbestos removal works are also taking place.

Clearance of the site is expected to finish in the autumn, with construction of the venue due to start in 2023.

The venue is phase two of the £200m Becketwell regeneration scheme.

Building work is already under way on phase one, which involves the creation of 259 Build-to-Rent apartments on the site of the former Debenhams store in Victoria Street, the council said.

Steve Hassall, cabinet member for regeneration, decarbonisation and strategic planning and transport, said: "The start of demolition of the former Pink Coconut is an important milestone on the path to Derby's new performance venue.

"This venue will be key to putting culture back into the heart of Derby."

William Crooks, managing director of Cawarden added: "We have already successfully completed the demolition of the former Debenhams building and the church next door and look forward to delivering another key milestone in preparing the site for the much-needed Becketwell regeneration scheme."