A vibrant new arts and culture centre for communities across Derry~Londonderry to celebrate and share their unique cultural heritage has been officially opened today.
The New Gate Arts & Culture Centre, located in The Fountain area of Derry close to the historic walls and the city centre, marks a £2.3 million investment by The Executive Office to create an inclusive shared space for communities to host events and initiatives in a state-of-the-art community facility.
This project is part of The Executive Office’s Urban Villages Initiative aimed at providing funding for projects in five urban areas across Northern Ireland.
Managed and overseen by Derry City and Strabane District Council the project is aimed at improving good relation outcomes and develop thriving places where there has been a history of deprivation and community tension.
The investment will assist in fostering positive community identities, building community capacity and improving the local physical environment.
The new centre includes a performance and multi-use space, art and tuition rooms, a dance studio, offices and café.
Joan O’Hara, Director, The Executive Office’s Urban Villages programme said the newly completed New Gate Arts and Culture Centre with the adjacent site brings a significant investment to The Fountain area of Derry.
It has become a state-of-the-art, performance space that will create opportunity to celebrate culture and identity with the local community and much wider. Urban Villages also have a keen interest in the organisational development of North-West Cultural Partnership to ensure the capacity and sustainability of such a landmark location.
“This is a fantastic regeneration project for the Fountain area of the city and across the region to provide a shared cultural space right in the heart of the local community.
“The centre will invigorate the area and encourage the community to come together to celebrate their culture and backgrounds in a space that will use the arts to create new experiences and friendships.
“We look forward to enjoying this collaborative voice and its potential in the years to come.”
Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Patricia Logue said: “The New Gate Arts and Culture Centre plays a hugely positive role in the local community through the provision of services and activities as well as improving the physical environment of the Fountain area.
“I am delighted that this investment has been completed successfully and that the residents of the Fountain and the wider area can now enjoy this new state of the art performance and cultural facility on their doorstep.”
Kyle Thompson from the North West Cultural Partnership who will be managing the day to day running of the centre thanked everyone involved in the project.
“We are hugely excited to see the Centre completed and the doors open to the public.
“This investment is a huge boost to the local community and allows us to continue with the positive work we are doing to promote the work that is going on in our community and reaching out to others to share and enjoy our unique cultures and traditions.
“This new state of the art building allows us to expand our ability to facilitate more activities and events and invite communities from across the city and region to participate and visit this unique shared space.”
The project is the culmination of the development of the Urban Villages Strategic Framework for Derry in 2016 and the preparation of the Fountain Area Strategic Overview in 2018.
As NWCP CEO, Brian Dougherty explained: “‘The centre represents the core focal point in establishing our strategic vision of ‘building a future of confident, creative, and connected people’.
“By providing further physical infrastructure for our six member groups and broad constituent base, it will allow us to fulfil not only an exciting and creative annual cultural programme but will provide the administrative base for our programme staff to continue developing our civic leadership initiatives.”
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