Hippodrome Theatre

yet another major “FIRE”, The developers seem hell bent on completely destroying this building.

Happy birthday old lady, 100 years today.

just been to see the the hippodrome today and just to update you its now up for sale with possible redevelopment i fear demolition is not to far away

does anyone know if this building is still standing has im planning a trip to derby next week

Council force owner to make repairs (just for safety not for making it weather tight sadly)
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quite how they can accept the damage was done accidentally is unbelievable especially with footage of it being done on youtube

One year on from Ken’s comment above, and there seems to be little progress on the Hippodrome saga.

Night photo from February 2010 here:–

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4387115668/

Three photographs taken in February 2009, showing the current condition of this Grade II Listed building (with the text of the listing application on the first photo):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3383166082/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3383163172/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/architec/3382351999/

As the days pass to months, I see it becoming less likely that Mr Anthony, the owner of the building, will be brought to justice for the vandalism/damage he has caused to this beautiful theatre….Or even restore the building to how it was just over one year ago.

All the laws and legal statutes of the land are in place to protect a building like this, and yet they have been totally flouted by the authorities, Derby City Council and the police, who just stood by and watched the building being torn apart.

On the night of 27th November 2008, the urban explorer group ‘28 Days Later’ managed the get inside the devastated Hippodrome Theatre to record the current status of the building. Here are their amazing photographs:
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Latest news

Derby Hippodrome High Court judgement welcomed by The Theatres Trust

10th April 2008

Mhora Samuel, Director of The Theatres Trust attended the High Court hearing held today in London where Derby City Council (the claimant) applied for an injunction to prevent the owner of the Derby Hippodrome (the respondent) from carrying out further demolition of the theatre. In the three and a half hour hearing the owner continued to assert that his experts declared the building was unsafe and required demolition, contrary to the views of the Council and English Heritage who considered that the building was safe to the public on the street and could be saved.

The respondent’s barrister stated that the owner was not required by listed building legislation to preserve the theatre and intended to demolish the building. He raised the issue of asbestos in the safety curtain and that this continued to pose a health and safety risk. The owner wanted to remove it by using a machine to go in and lift it out of the building. He said that the proscenium would not survive this process of removal.

Mhora Samuel said, “I was very concerned to hear that the owner’s approach to making the building safe would result in the loss of the proscenium. I am pleased that the final judgement issued by the court identified that it is a criminal offence to undertake works to a listed building without consent, and that whilst he was not in a position to adjudicate on this matter, the judge did state that advance notice of the works to the roof on the 28 March had not been given to Derby City Council. I now urge the Council to proceed with prosecution and enforcement to have the theatre restored.”

The view of the judge, Mr Justice Saunders, was that the status quo should be retained until a proper trial could take place but issues of health and safety were serious considerations that needed attention. Faced with ‘two sets of experts diametrically opposed to each other’, both parties agreed to the appointment of an independent expert who would produce a report on the state of the building for a further hearing on the week beginning 21 April. In the meantime the judge ordered that the health and safety issues in the building be kept under close scrutiny by both parties.

Three further photos of the Derby Hippodrome, taken in 2007, here:–

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Devastating news. This was a structurally sound building of national importance.

A press release will be issued in the next days regarding this destruction.

A few exterior photos of the Hippodrome (taken May 2007) here:–

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