HERITAGE FUND TO BACK OMAGH PLAN
Heritage fund to back Omagh plan
By IAN HILL
BOMB-RAVAGED Omagh receives a �900,000 boost later to day to help restore the tragic town.
Dr Eric Anderson will announce an allocation of �3.35 million funding to projects in Northern Ireland as he launches the Heritage Lottery Fund's annual report in London.
Grants totalling �2.452.900 go to a number of projects in Belfast. Downpatrick. Londonderry and Saintfield, with the Omagh money going to a townscape restoration project.
The cash is offered under the fund's townscape Heritage Initiative, launched in April 1998. which is designed to contribute to the revival of historic towns and cities.
The schemes bring together local partnerships to repair and regenerate areas of special architectural and historical interest.
In Omagh, the money is earmarked for those buildings of historic merit within Market Street, the focus of the recent bombings.
The repair of these existing Victorian buildings will form an integral part of the overall reconstruction of lower Market Street.
The fund has given approval in principle, subject to an agreement, on a detailed plan, to the monies being awarded to a partnership of Omagh District Council and Omagh Renewal and Beyond Partnership. The grant will be employed to carry out structural repairs and to reinstate the architectural features in the designated properties which have suffered repair, thus returning them to full working use.
Omagh District Councils chief executive John McKinney was delighted with the news.
"The money will ensure that Market Street keeps its historic character. We had already submitted an application for money to restore Market Street along by the river. Of course we re-submitted it after the bombing in a new form, but since attention to the history of the whole area has always been part of our Beyond Partnership vision. I'm really delighted that this grant shows confidence in our plans. It's great for the town," he said.
The Belfast grant, however, is the biggest to he announced today. It is for �1,522,000 and it goes to the charity Bryson House for the restoration of the magnificent former Belfast Gas Office on the Ormeau Road. This announcement ends years of speculation about this landmark red-brick building with its distinctive clock tower towering over the Lower Ormeau behind its long brick wall much praised by the architectural guru John Betjeman.
By IAN HILL
BOMB-RAVAGED Omagh receives a �900,000 boost later to day to help restore the tragic town.
Dr Eric Anderson will announce an allocation of �3.35 million funding to projects in Northern Ireland as he launches the Heritage Lottery Fund's annual report in London.
Grants totalling �2.452.900 go to a number of projects in Belfast. Downpatrick. Londonderry and Saintfield, with the Omagh money going to a townscape restoration project.
The cash is offered under the fund's townscape Heritage Initiative, launched in April 1998. which is designed to contribute to the revival of historic towns and cities.
The schemes bring together local partnerships to repair and regenerate areas of special architectural and historical interest.
In Omagh, the money is earmarked for those buildings of historic merit within Market Street, the focus of the recent bombings.
The repair of these existing Victorian buildings will form an integral part of the overall reconstruction of lower Market Street.
The fund has given approval in principle, subject to an agreement, on a detailed plan, to the monies being awarded to a partnership of Omagh District Council and Omagh Renewal and Beyond Partnership. The grant will be employed to carry out structural repairs and to reinstate the architectural features in the designated properties which have suffered repair, thus returning them to full working use.
Omagh District Councils chief executive John McKinney was delighted with the news.
"The money will ensure that Market Street keeps its historic character. We had already submitted an application for money to restore Market Street along by the river. Of course we re-submitted it after the bombing in a new form, but since attention to the history of the whole area has always been part of our Beyond Partnership vision. I'm really delighted that this grant shows confidence in our plans. It's great for the town," he said.
The Belfast grant, however, is the biggest to he announced today. It is for �1,522,000 and it goes to the charity Bryson House for the restoration of the magnificent former Belfast Gas Office on the Ormeau Road. This announcement ends years of speculation about this landmark red-brick building with its distinctive clock tower towering over the Lower Ormeau behind its long brick wall much praised by the architectural guru John Betjeman.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/351
Published Date: 27-Oct-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.