HIPPODROME TO BE REPAIRED

Derby City Council will carry out £90,000-worth of repairs to the derelict Hippodrome Theatre and plans to force its owner to pay, even if it bankrupts him. The authority had ordered the grade II-listed building's owner, Christopher Anthony, to remove loose bricks and timbers on the facade and put up hoarding across the Crompton Street side to improve security.

But he failed to meet the deadline so now the council is preparing to appoint contractors to carry out the repairs on its behalf. Around £60,000 will be spent on the Macklin Street side of the building where most work is needed. Once the work is complete it will mean that fencing, which has been blocking vehicle access to Macklin Street for more than 18 months, can be taken down.

Council leader Harvey Jennings said he was aware Mr Anthony was in financial difficulty but said the work was needed and the authority would start bankruptcy proceedings against him if he failed to pay for them. He said, "We have been pursuing Mr Anthony to carry out the work but without any success. The owner has been unresponsive but we feel it is incumbent on us to make the building safe. Structural work is needed to do that so that we can remove the scaffolding that's up. At the moment we are going out to find a contractor to carry out the work but it is expected to cost £90,000 to do it. We will be taking every step in our power to recover the costs from Mr Anthony."

The work will be carried out from a cherry picker and will include: cutting timbers which protrude beyond the back wall; stripping off loose roof slates; rebuilding loose and missing masonry from the inner wall; repositioning the rafters along Macklin Street; re-slating the area of the roof which is currently covered in slates with matching or reclaimed ones; installing flashings and repositioning rafters. The remaining £30,000 will be spent on the Crompton Street side, where the council will put up a timber hoarding between the Hippodrome and a terraced house. All debris from the top of an existing metal canopy along Macklin Street will also be removed.

The ultimatum ordering Mr Anthony to carry out the work was given after the council's planning committee refused permission for the London developer to turn the former theatre into a multi-storey car park. The work, to begin once contractors are appointed, will allow the council to reopen Macklin Street to vehicles after 18 months as part of the Connecting Derby scheme to allow easy access to the new inner ring road and cut congestion.

The decision was welcomed by campaigners, who want to see the restoration of the derelict theatre, which has partly collapsed. Peter Steer, from the Derby Hippodrome Restoration Trust, which wants to see the building restored as a medium-sized theatre, also welcomed the work. He said, "This will give temporary protection to the building and we hope it will stop people getting into that building through the fencing in Macklin Street. More work needs to be done. It needs roofing to keep the weather out and that's what we would be looking for." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Aug/10)

City architects' firm Lathams has been appointed by the Hippodrome Restoration Trust to carry out an options appraisal on the Grade II-listed building. It is hoped that an expert study into how the former Hippodrome theatre might be brought back into use could help secure the future of the badly damaged building. The trust says that if the findings of the study are positive then it will work to acquire the building.

Its chairman, Joan Travis, said, "It is good to be taking a positive step towards securing the future of the building so I'm really pleased that architects have been appointed. Funding bodies recognise independent studies like this and see them as a necessary step before they give funding so it is essential this work is done for the city." The Hippodrome Restoration Trust has been putting pressure on Derby City Council to use its powers to compulsorily purchase the building.

But the authority is reluctant to buy a building with no viable future, so the trust has been pushing to get a professional study carried out. The research will look at what is needed in the Green Lane area of the city, where the building is situated, what it could be used for and potential costs. Lathams is working with heritage tourism consultants to carry out the research. Following that initial phase, a detailed business plan will be put together.

The trust would then use that information to attempt to get funding guarantees from various bodies which it could use to prove to the council that funds were in place to buy the Hippodrome from the authority, should it use its powers to compulsorily purchase the building. The majority of the £10,000 costs of the research are expected to be covered by the Architectural Heritage Fund.

It puts money towards listed buildings or those in conservation areas and can pay up to £7,500 towards the cost of the study. The Hippodrome Restoration Trust hopes the remainder of the costs will be covered by the council. But the authority's chief legal officer, Stuart Leslie, said a commitment had not yet been given because the council had been led to believe that the Architectural Heritage Fund's money was conditional on the authority giving a guarantee that it would buy the building.

Ian Rice, project development officer at the heritage fund, said it would expect the council to give a commitment to helping acquire the building from its private owner. He said that could be conditional on the building being sold on immediately. Lathams is starting the options appraisal work immediately with detailed business plan work following that. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Dec/11)