Work has begun to spruce up the landmark “King’s Corner” building in Strabane.
Sinn Fein Cllr Brian McMahon.
The refurbishment of the building at the junction of Bridge Street and Ballycolman Lane is part of a rolling programme of environmental improvement works to be undertaken at 68 derelict buildings and sites within the town and across the Strabane Council district.
Sinn Fein Cllr Brian McMahon said the regeneration was being rolled out with £200,000 secured through the DoE “Dereliction” Programme.
Speaking in his capacity as chairperson of the Strabane Town Forum, Cllr McMahon added: “It is being used to target 68 identified derelict buildings and sites in Strabane town and across the district with a range of environmental improvements including: fresh paint jobs; shop front improvements: shuttering of windows and in a small number of cases demolition where buildings are deemed to be in a dangerous state.
“One of the main objectives of the Town Forum has been to tackle the unsightly dereliction that has blighted the local landscape for too long and along with other initiatives strive to make the town a more inviting place for locals and out of town visitors alike.
“With Council working in partnership the Forum and other statutory agencies a lot of work has already taken place aimed at achieving this objective including securing the necessary DSD funding to enable the Canal Street, Castle Place, Railway Road and Lower Main Street public realm schemes to take place as well as impressive festive lighting project that we now have.”
The work at “King’s Corner” is part of this and the coming months will see the Bridge Street area further transformed with a £500,000 DSD funded Public Realm Scheme (through the Revitalisation Programme) to upgrade footpaths, lighting and provide enhanced street planting to be completed in May of this year.
Cllr McMahon concluded: “Hopefully, by the time both the Dereliction and Revitalisation Programmes are complete people will see a marked improvement in the visual appearance of the area. By continuing to work in close partnership we can continue to make further improvements in the time ahead for local residents, visitors, shoppers and potential investors alike.”
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