History in the making for ‘Boys’

The announcement to recruit a Development Manager to source funding to build a museum and heritage centre at the organisation’s Memorial Hall at Society Street will kick start a plan that has been at least a decade long desire.

The role of Development Manager, advertised in this week’s local press,will be to work with the ABOD to secure funding, procure contractors and move the project into the actual construction phase. The mooted museum and heritage facility will be housed adjacent to the Memorial Hall at that currently houses the statue of Siege hero, Governor George Walker.

In total the project will cost an estimated £3 million - £1 million of which will go on restoring ‘The Mem’ and the remainder on the museum and heritage project.

The main aim of the project is to create a world class tourism feature which will showcase the history of Londonderry from the Plantation, tell the story of the building of the Walls, the Siege of 1688-89 and its aftermath.

The role of Development Manager was facilitated by the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) and their Recruitment Adviser, Wesley Emmett said: “Our organisation’s commitment to this project is in line with our role in promoting public and private investment in significant capital projects to deliver economic benefit and community regeneration.”

Essentially the involvement of the SIB was to advise on the type of qualifications required by the successful candidate for the job in order to deliver on securing money to complete the project. The person who wins the position will work on a full-time basis with the ABOD.

“This will be an injection of professional capability that will build the confidence of potential funders. It is a very positive development,” said Wesley Emmett.

The timetable for the completion of the project is dependent on securing public investment for the project but the hope is that the centre will be opened by 2014, marking the 300th anniversary of the founding of the first Apprentice Boys Club in Londonderry.

General Secretary of the ABOD, Billy Moore has been involved with the project since its inception and he told the Sentinel: “We are very, very pleased that SIB see this as a project worth getting involved in.

“The reasons we want to do this are two-fold. Firstly, the building of the centre will help promote a much better understanding of the history and culture of the Apprentice Boys and secondly it will explain why we celebrate the Siege. This will also create a shared history so everyone in the city can indeed share in it.”

The ABOD have already been pursuing a highly active cross-community agenda with schools and other groups from the Catholic community. The organisation already co-hosts visits with the Museum of Free Derry so both the story of the Siege and Bloody Sunday can be told to tourists.

Billy Moore said that another aspect of the project is to get members of the Protestant community who left the west bank of the city to return to show that Protestant culture is still vibrant and has a “strong footprint in the city centre.”

On a personal level, Billy Moore said he was delighted that “after having worked on the project for ten years we can now see light at the end of the tunnel and it will only spur us on to get the funding.”

And, Chief Executive of ILEX, Aideen McGinley also welcomed the announcement. She told the Sentinel: “The assistance of the Strategic Investment Board in moving this project forward is very welcome as it is an important element of the story the city has to tell.”