Plans to turn historic Aghanloo RAF training dome into events space submitted to Causeway Coast and Glens Council
Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust has unveiled plans for a community events space at an historic RAF training dome, near Limavady.
A planning application was recently submitted for a public display and event space at the Dome, which was built as an anti-aircraft gunners’ training centre in 1942 and is located a short distance north of Dowland Road in the village of Aghanloo.
Plans include insertion of a new steel shell into the existing structure, improved access to the building, eight parking spaces, a staff office, and a store.
According to an accompanying Design and Access Statement, the ome was built within RAF Limavady, which was “one of a series of strategically important airfields established in Northern Ireland during the Second World War”, is a scheduled monument, and is the only building of this type on the island of Ireland.
“The airfield is no longer in operation,” the statement added. “But a large number of structures remain, many of which are being reused as part of an industrial and commercial estate.
“The Trainer Dome is one of the most unique, making it one of the most historically significant but difficult-to-reuse structures.
“As the airfield ceased to function in the late 1950s, the Dome has only been used as a store or makeshift animal shelter in recent years.
“Although the buildings once had some communal significance as part of the former Limavady Airfield, this has been eroded as the buildings within the airfield are abandoned, fall into disrepair or are demolished all together. Despite this, the building still has significant cultural communal value.”