Navigation Houses’ Past Transformed
June 16, 2021
Navigation House, the former residence of the Canal Manager of the Navigation, has been recently refurbished in a bid to restore the building to its former glory.
Built c1866 the building has benefited from a million pound investment programme providing the restoration of the house and associated stable block and courtyard to create a multi-purpose facility.
It is designed to deliver innovative initiatives, social enterprise opportunities while focusing on the waterways, health and wellbeing opportunities such as healthy eating and horticulture, keeping sight of the heritage surrounding Navigation House and the associated locks.
The newly refurbished building offers office space, breakout rooms and workshop facilities on the ground floor (to convey the industrial and cultural heritage associated with the canal’s history), while the stables have been developed into a meeting room and further workshop space to offer community and training facilities.
It is envisaged that the substantial grounds surrounding the building will be transformed to create allotments and vegetable/herb gardens to support the delivery of sustainable eating and horticulture programmes.
Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) was delighted to invest in the delivery of such a calibre project, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.
Alderman Jim Dillon MBE, Former Chair of the council’s Development Committee said: “The council is delighted to have supported the delivery of this refurbishment and is pleased with the finished project. The project is a major investment in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area, regenerating and conserving the site as a visitor destination for culture and heritage across Lisburn and Northern Ireland.
"I would like to thank the contractor, McCuskers, who worked hard to complete this scheme within the funders timeframe, while adhering to the strict government guidelines introduced due to the unforeseen global pandemic."
Alderman Allan Ewart MBE, Chairman of Lagan Rural Partnership commented, "We are delighted that the council, in partnership with Lagan Rural Partnership, were able to deliver this scheme given the difficulties faced across the year when the country came to a standstill due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. The team worked hard to ensure all government guidelines were adhered to and that the scheme was able to complete to the benefit of the council area."
This project was part funded under Priority 6 (LEADER) All Island Cooperation Scheme of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme (NIRDP) 2014-2020 by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the European Union. The project was undertaken jointly with Kilkenny LEADER Partnership.