New church hall tobe built at Armoy

When the bulldozers moved in to demolish the former primary school at Armoy, it was a sad occasion.

The building which had stood for decades educating hundreds of children down the years was finally razed to the ground last week.

The school had been converted to a church hall and served the church and the community well hosting Boys and Girls Brigades, bowling clubs and the Women’s Institute to name but a few.

However a new church hall will be under construction in the coming weeks. In addition to knocking down the existing hall, the ground is being lowered by several feet to create a more level site.

It is understood that the new hall will be of similar size to the old one and will adequately cater for the needs of the congregation in Armoy.

Overseeing the project is retired builder, Frankie Heggarty, who is excited about the project.

“It’s sad to see the hall go because it has a lot of history, but things move on,” Mr Heggarty said.

Locals watched the demolition with some interest and also with mixed feelings.

The last headmaster of the old school was the late Mr James Neill who was also principal when the replacement was built.