A TRUST which wants to buy and restore Derby's crumbling former Hippodrome says a new study on the building will help it bid for up to £5 million.
Derby Hippodrome Restoration Trust wants to refurbish parts of the theatre – transforming the old entrance, box office and bar into space for performances, exhibitions and meetings, as well as a cafe.
It has a special legal status which means no other organisation can bid to buy the building until October 18.
The current estate agent for the building – London-based Davidson Aquila – has confirmed it is working on behalf of a bank and previously invited the trust to make a bid.
Now Peter Steer, director of the trust, has reaffirmed his vow to make a bid by the deadline.
He said that the result of the study, commissioned by the city council and English Heritage, would help as it showed there was a future for the building.
The document, by property experts Colliers International, states that the preferred option for the theatre is the restoration of its front section, at a cost estimated at £2.9 million.
It says: "An artisan food-drink business, like a coffee shop/cafe or possibly a micro-brewery, could be a good physical fit with the remains of the existing building and also a good anchor for the area.
"It could make use of the decked space for outdoor seating and also for events. That could include a farmers' market and events like outdoor cinema and theatre in warmer months."
It says this could be "an interim solution while funding is sought for reconstruction of the theatre".
The study also said that a full restoration would probably cost in the region of £16 million and that, in the current economic climate, it is unlikely this cash could be found.
Mr Steer said that having the former theatre as an outdoor venue may not be feasible because of the British weather and the complications of having a site like that in a residential area.
But he said the study would help the trust's bid for up to £5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. He said: "There was no point in our wasting the HLF's time with an application for funding if this report was going to say there was no future for the building. We are working on the bid right now."
Mr Steer said that the building had been valued, two or three years ago, at £25,000 and that, since then, it had suffered more damage.
The Grade two former theatre is still owned by Christopher Anthony, who ordered work which led to the partial demolition of the building four years ago. He had challenged the building's new status as a "community asset", which has put the trust in its current bidding position, but the council yesterday revealed that this challenge had failed.
