I'm pleased to say that the orchestra will have its initial "home" at 25 Prospect Street, a lovely modern building not far from Nottingham city centre.
I'd had my eye on this venue all along, because not many places "tick this many boxes". It has good free parking, nearby bus routes and good wheelchair access. It also has window-doors onto its little garden/yard at the far end, useful for extra ventilation. The adjacent retail park has two charging points for electric vehicles.
(In the daytime, it's a day centre for old people's activities, belonging to Radford Care Group. This is their new building, opened in 2020, replacing an older building on the same site.)
The location is just off the A6130 Radford Boulevard, next to the "Castle Retail Park" with Aldi and The Range. So it's slightly west of the city centre, in between Alfreton Road and Ilkeston Road, under a mile from Derby Road. The post code is NG7 5QE.
(Please note that the so-called "Castle" retail park is in fact not particularly near the castle!)
OpenStreetMap link, with a marker for the venue.
The following photo shows the venue location in comparison to a couple of useful landmarks. Looking across from the main gates of the retail park, the venue's roof can just about be seen in the distance, next to its next-door neighbour, the "Pheasant" pub. There actually is a pedestrian exit over on that side of the retail park, opposite the pub.
(Fun fact, the retail park gate posts are the original ones from when this site was a Player's cigarette factory!)
Jump to...
The closest bus stops are the Turquoise Line bus stops on Alfreton Road, about 450 yards from the venue. For most people coming by public transport, this'll be the easiest. More details below.
In town, Turquoise Line buses do the City Loop, i.e. there are lots of bus stop options, including (a) opposite the Victoria Centre and (b) on Canal Street, not far from the railway station.
The next nearest public transport routes are Pink Line along Ilkeston Road, trams stopping at The Forest, and then Orange Line along Derby Road. These are all under a mile away.
Although I'm listing the bus numbers here, in fact any bus "of that colour" will come to the relevant stops; the routes diverge further out of town.
Turquoise Line bus numbers are 77, 78 or 79. The name of the nearby bus stop(s) is "Gregory Boulevard". If your bus was heading out of town, then you're already on the side of the road where you wanted to be - just walk back a little way towards the junction. If your bus was heading towards the city centre, you'll want to cross the road, towards "Frankster's" (red sign). Head south along Radford Boulevard, passing "Dunkin" on your left and "Chilli Hut" on your right. You'll then turn right onto Prospect Street just before the retail park.
(Once you know the area, you might prefer walking the other side of that block, along Churchfield Lane - quieter, because it isn't the main road. But I realise some people prefer main roads, esp after dark.)
Pink Line bus numbers are 28 or 30. The bus stop name you want is "Radford Boulevard". Walk back a little bit to the junction. (This applies whichever way the bus was facing; each of this pair of stops is positioned after the bus has crossed the junction.) Then head north along Radford Boulevard, passing "Cyrus Mini Market" on your left and "The Gregory" on your right. You'll then turn left onto Prospect Street after the retail park. It's just over half a mile.
Orange Line bus numbers are 34, 35 or 36. The bus stop name you want is "Savoy Cinema". (If you arrive on the side near Sainsbury's, cross Derby Road at the crossing.) Walk downhill a little way to the junction, where you turn right (north) onto Lenton Boulevard. Landmarks: on your right pretty soon, recently-built houses in a combination of brick and dark-grey facing. On your left a bit further along, a big 1930s building, with a green sign for the Marcus Garvey Day Centre. At the next big junction, Lenton Boulevard becomes Radford Boulevard. Eventually you turn left onto Prospect Street after the retail park. It's a bit less than a mile.
In addition, Yellow, Purple, Lime and Brown Line buses stop just over a mile away from the venue, at various locations near the "two roundabouts" at the eastern end of Gregory Boulevard, by the Forest recreation ground. However, it's not necessarily any better to get off there than to carry on into town and change onto a Turquoise Line bus. Depends how much you like walking :-)
The nearest tram stop is "The Forest" - the Goose Fair site with the Park and Ride car park. Riding the tram from town, this is about 12 minutes from the railway station, or more like 10 minutes from the city centre.
From there, the walk to the venue would be about two-thirds of a mile: fairly similar to the walk from the Pink Line buses, further than from the Turquoise Line bus stops.
From the junction near the tram stop, you want the direction which doesn't have tram tracks and doesn't run alongside the recreation ground. A landmark is that on your right, you'd soon see the New Art Exchange, a large dark-brick building with varied sizes of window. Cross the next big junction, where there's a big greengrocer shop on your left. Keep going to the next big junction after that, where you should see "Dunkin" across the road. Then you're in a similar place as if you'd just got off a Turquoise Line bus, so see bus info above.
There are three types of parking nearby. All are free.
At the venue: In the venue's own car park, there are 11 ordinary spaces, plus 2 with additional side clearance for easier access. We may reserve some of these closest 13 spaces for people with (a) mobility limitations, (b) basses, (c) cellos :-)
On the street: There's sometimes room for another 20-odd cars on Prospect Street, and more round the corner on Churchfield Lane. The southern end of Churchfield Lane runs between St Peter's Church and the back of the retail park, so it's not outside anyone's house.
On the retail park: Technically this is for customers, and limited to 2 hours. I'm not sure whether anyone would really mind, as the car park has 500-odd spaces and is never normally full. Aldi is open till 10pm on weekdays, so you actually could nip for some shopping after orchestra :-)
The corner of the retail park has two parking spaces where electric vehicles can recharge. This photo also shows the pedestrian exit from that corner of the retail park, up a ramp onto Prospect Street almost opposite the venue.
P.S. When I get the chance, I plan to take some photos of the indoors as well, including the wheelchair-friendly toilet.