Court House venue locked out: 'Music hub' ditched from £72m Bangor seaside overhaul as plans get rewritten
A 160-year-old disused court turned hit arts venue has been locked out of long-standing plans to overhaul Bangor’s seaside.
Under the £72m plans, funded by the Belfast City Region Deal and run by the Co Down city’s council, the Court House was due to massively expand to allow it to stage larger shows from big name acts – but it has now been sentenced to exile, no longer appearing as part of the scheme.
Plans have now been rewritten; even though Ards and North Down Council has previously stated that any changes to the revamp could threaten the region deal money, officials insist there’s no risk to it now.
Venue owners the Open House Festival revealed they’d hoped to get hold of a neighbouring “long-vacant derelict property” and extend into it, creating a larger main performance area, but the deed-holder refused to sell.
Alison Gordon from Open House told the News Letter: “We would be happy to explore other ideas to deliver the music and culture ambitions of the project.”
The venue’s expansion plans were a major plank of the revamp, which runs across a two-mile stretch of Bangor’s coast and involves everything from improving a fun park to building a new centre for world-class water sports.
The council used to have an entire page on its website detailing what would happen with the Court House, which stated the “creativity of its people, from earliest times to present-day musicians and producers, is a key part of Bangor’s DNA”.
“The borough inspires and supports many key influencers within the music industry including Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club, Foy Vance and Hannah Peel,” the council’s site used to read, adding the Court House opening its doors in 2022 created “a much-needed multi-purpose venue serving the city”.
Added the council: “Having considered a range of options for a music hub as part of the Waterfront redevelopment, the [region deal] funding will allow for further development creating additional capacity for creative events and workspaces, further enhancing its reputation as a venue for Bangor and the wider borough.”
Attempts to access that page now bring up an error message.
Last month, the council justified allowing a property developer to pave over a park to create a car park in part by pointing to the £72m Bangor Waterfront scheme.
One of the reasons the developer has to demolish Marine Gardens, said officials, is that a pre-existing large car park couldn’t be used as it lies within the Waterfront development zone, and altering approved plans now would risk losing the Region Deal funding.
The council maintains that taking the Court House out of the plans and reassigning money that was going to be spent on it should not put the Region Deal cash under threat, however.
“The council remains committed to delivering the Bangor Waterfront programme in accordance with the agreed objectives of the deal,” a spokeswoman told the News Letter.
“In light of this, discussions are ongoing with Belfast Region City Deal partners regarding the potential reallocation of funding within the wider Bangor Waterfront programme. Any reallocation will be subject to the agreement of funding partners and will be managed in line with Belfast Region City Deal governance processes.”