A multi-million pound project to refurbish Derby's former magistrates' court is now under way, with developers hoping to restore the 1930s building back to its former glory. Business editor Robin Johnson reports.
ANYONE who regularly passes through Full Street in Derby's city centre cannot fail to have noticed the velocity at which work is progressing on the former police station and magistrates' court site.
For the past decade these buildings have stood empty – becoming a blot on the city's landscape, undermining the good work that has been done so far in terms of the city's regeneration.
But in matter of weeks, that decay has been arrested.
In the case of the police station, it has been stopped in a very dramatic way – with the demolition of the unloved 1960s building, along with the walkway which linked it with the adjoining magistrates' court.
Last month, a giant mechanical arm was brought in to tear chunks out the building.
It has now flattened the police station, leaving behind a surprisingly large area of land beside the River Derwent, which is now ripe for redevelopment.
With the police station gone, Clegg Construction, the firm overseeing the redevelopment, is turning its attention to the former magistrates' court.
But this will be a different kind of assignment.
Rather than demolition, the name of the game with this building will be restoration.
So far, the demolition of the police station has provided some visual drama, as we have witnessed it coming down, chunk by chunk.
But when it comes to the magistrates' court, restoration work will be taking place both inside and out.
Sadly, the last 10 years have not been kind to the property.
As with the police station, the building has suffered at the hands of the weather – not to mention the vandals.
Clegg aims to deliver a sympathetic restoration but it will be by no means straightforward.
The magistrates' court dates back to the 1930s and is protected with Grade II-listed status by English Heritage.
This means Clegg, which is carrying out the work on behalf of Wilson Bowden Developments, will have to tread carefully at every stage of the restoration.
For those of us law-abiding enough not to have been inside the building when it was a functioning court, in its description of the building, English Heritage explains in detail the architecture within.
It talks of a ground-floor entrance hall with a swept double stair with elaborate bronze balustrades.
The main stairwell and first-floor waiting area has polished stone panelling and moulded cornices and the courtrooms have patterned ceilings and cornices with the majority of the fittings being original.
It also describes the judges' room as having wooden panelling, pendant lamps, a polished stone fireplace and a cross-beam ceiling.
English Heritage concludes: "This building is an important element of a major municipal redevelopment scheme, carried out between 1932 and 1949."
But it became obsolete when the decision was taken to create a new magistrates' court in St Mary's Gate, which opened in 2003.
The neighbouring Full Street police station was also vacated when Derbyshire Police opened new headquarters at St Mary's Wharf.
Clegg has said that when it comes to the magistrates' court restoration, it will match new materials as closely as possible to the building's existing preserved features.
Clegg's managing director Simon Blackburn said: "The building has been empty for 10 years and parts of it are quite derelict so it is a major challenge to restore it to its former glory.
"We will be working closely with the conservation officer to retain listed features wherever possible and meet his expectations while remaining within our timeframe to complete the project.
"We are looking forward to working with Wilson Bowden and Derby City Council to create something that will help regenerate the city centre and generate jobs in the area."
Overall, the police station demolition and magistrates' court refurbishment is costing £3.1 million.
It is being underwritten by the city council's regeneration fund, which is designed to give developers a helping hand in getting large-scale schemes off the ground.
The catalyst for work to begin came this year when the city council offered a £105,000 loan to help cover the cost of flattening the police station and the walkway.
Wilson Bowden's plans involve a hotel for Premier Inn, apartments and a basement car park being created on the police station site.
The seven-storey hotel will have 118 bedrooms. It is hoped construction of the building, which will overlook the River Derwent, can start in summer next year.
The plans also include 46 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. There will also be some commercial space.
As for the adjoining magistrates' court, this will be turned into offices for start-up businesses.
The building will also house a cafe and a local studies library.
The work, which is expected to be complete by the end of July, will involve reconfiguring the inside of the building.
It will include a business centre covering more than 15,000 sq ft, which will be subdivided into office suites ranging from 80 sq ft to 1,800 sq ft.
The city council estimates that the transformation of the site will generate 165 jobs over a three-year period, attracting new businesses into the city.
It is hoped that once the magistrates court refurbishment is done, it will provide a catalyst for the redevelopment of the police station site to begin.
A KEY PART OF CITY-CENTRE REGENERATIONTHE former Derby Magistrates' Court building dates back to the 1930s and was built as part of a larger plan to regenerate public buildings in the city centre.
The city's Central Improvement Plan involved new magistrates' courts, town hall, swimming baths, police station, magistrates' courts and bus station.
All of those buildings were designed by the Derby Borough Architect of the time, Herbert Aslin.
Aslin was renowned for having an eye for detail, especially ornamental metalwork. This can be seen at the court, which was built between 1932 and 1934.
It is just one of the reasons why the building was granted Grade II-listed status by English Heritage in 2000.
It contains many original art-deco features such as panelling and sky lights in the main entrance hall.
Above the hall were two floors of courts complete with custody area and cells with administration space on the upper floors.
