“Venues are closing down every day. Venues like this are gold dust.” That was Chris Difford, one half of the principal partnership behind the band Squeeze, from the stage, as he surveyed a sold-out audience for his solo show at Melbourne Assembly Rooms recently. Happily, the Assembly Rooms is not in danger – and plans have now been revealed to expand the venue significantly.
Difford’s words were a ringing endorsement for the increasingly popular venue and his presence, let alone the fact that he brought the house down with a show full of stories and hit songs, was a measure of how far the Assembly Rooms has come. Not for the first time, it left manager Andy Heafield pinching himself to believe it.
The idea of Difford playing a hall in a Derbyshire village would have been unthinkable a few years ago – but then, so would the idea of legendary crooner Tony Christie doing so, or folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention, or singer Kiki Dee. But all have been and many more are planned. Another well-known hit-maker, Judy Tzuke, is booked for November; before that one of Britain’s finest guitarists, Albert Lee, brings his 80th birthday tour to Melbourne in June.
The Assembly Rooms has been run by a voluntary board with the support of the local parish council and South Derbyshire District Council since 2012. As well as concerts, it hosts many local community groups, weddings and parties, while the village library is based within the former school. It is the growing success of the concert programme, though, that is helping fund all that goes on.
Currently, for a concert, the main hall holds 120 seated, with tiering towards the back of the hall. But there is a room unused behind the stage and moving back into that space would allow an increase of 50% to a potential audience of 180. The current closure for repairs of Derby Guildhall and the permanent closure of Derby Assembly Rooms have only enhanced demand in the Melbourne venue.
Andy Heafield said: “Of the 12 pre-Christmas shows we put on, 11 sold out. We’re booked a year in advance. There is a huge appetite for live music at our venue and the expansion will help enormously as we expand on what we currently have. And, really, there are no losers. The concerts boost the local economy with people coming from outside the area and making a day or two of it – eating, drinking and staying. I like to think we are doing our bit to put money into local pubs, restaurants and hotels.”
A chunk of the £15,000 needed to sort the planning and design of the project out has been raised. But the eventual project will cost in the region of £150,000 and an appeal will be launched to raise that, with various grants being sought. Planning permission, architects’ drawings, a survey and listed building consent for the changes to the 19th century Grade II listed building are all on the menu in the coming months, with Melbourne-based architects Harmer Fitz Douglas on board.
Amanda Harmer, founder of the company, said: “Our challenge is achieving the expansion within the constraints of the existing structure, which has a complex roof configuration, as well as its heritage value as a listed building, but we’re confident it’s achievable and have already started on the design proposals with a structural engineer.”
The timetable now is the launch of an appeal in April, with building starting in 2025 and completion by September 2025. But much will still go on in the meantime and Mr Heafield, the manager for a decade, added: “I could not have envisaged where we have got to when we started putting a few concerts on at the start. I used to look at an artist and think ‘no way’ but, really, not an awful lot is out of bounds to us now.
“We’ve grown more confident with experience and in many cases, we deal directly with the performer – usually you find that these people, who in many cases you’d class as ‘stars’ are perfectly approachable, modest and love playing venues like ours. They may have played bigger places earlier in their careers and, in the case of someone like Chris Difford, will again, but it’s wonderful to hear when they say how good it has been to play in a space like ours. Our aim is to become the premier performance venue in South Derbyshire and, further afield, one of the best venues in the Midlands.”