£4m investment in historic fabric of Carrick town centre

Heritage Fund applications have now opened for a multi-million-pound scheme focused on the built heritage of Carrickfergus town centre.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Oct 2016, 10:44 BST
Updated 31st Oct 2016, 09:52 BST
Cllr Billy Ashe chair of Economic Growth and Tourism Committee, Cllr Audrey Wales MBE, Mayor and Cllr John Stewart, chair of Carrickfergus Regeneration PartnershipCllr Billy Ashe chair of Economic Growth and Tourism Committee, Cllr Audrey Wales MBE, Mayor and Cllr John Stewart, chair of Carrickfergus Regeneration Partnership
Cllr Billy Ashe chair of Economic Growth and Tourism Committee, Cllr Audrey Wales MBE, Mayor and Cllr John Stewart, chair of Carrickfergus Regeneration Partnership

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council are starting work on a £4m Townscape Heritage Initiative, known as a THI scheme, which should make the popular seaside town a more attractive place to visit and invest.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded the council £1.7m funding toward the THI scheme that will run to the end of 2020 with Council inputting £550,000 and the majority of the remaining investment by the building owners themselves.

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The programme will start this year and will focus on a defined area within the historic town walls of the Carrickfergus conservation area.

A series of priority buildings have already been identified for repairs and restoration, while the HLF money will also co-fund a programme of educational activity around the town’s rich built heritage including initiatives with local schools and communities.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council, Audrey Wales said: “We are delighted the Carrickfergus THI scheme is now open for applications and we would like to thank our friends at Heritage Lottery Fund for supporting our ambitions. This THI scheme will largely focus on more recent buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries and deliver some much-needed investment to bring some vacant historic buildings back into use and provide resources to help local property owners undertake structural repairs and shopfront improvements.”

Related topics:CarrickCarrickfergusCouncilMid and East Antrim Council