Centre rename u-turn

UUP councillor Aaron Callan had proposed renaming the award-winning facility The Alexander Memorial Arts Centre, after Limavady businessman Samuel Maxwell Alexander.

However, Colr. Callan has confirmed the motion is to be withdrawn given potential costs of the move could reach as much as £30,000.

In a statement to the ‘Journal’, Colr. Callan said: “It is a matter of regret that Samuel Maxwell Alexander`s name was removed. We would have liked to have seen him being given better recognition because he was a great philanthropist for the Limavady area.

“However, we recognise we are in austere times and we have been liaising with council officers to ascertain the potential costs of the proposal. Initial indications are that these could reach anything up to £30,000. Therefore we will be withdrawing the motion at this time to create the space to look at imaginative ways of reducing the costs and giving greater recognition to the Alexander name.”

The proposal split nationalists and unionists on Causeway Council, and in the community. A petition against the move attracted close to to 1,000 signatures.