Moore’s Lane was hit by the first bomb attack of ‘the Troubles’. A number of shops had to be demolished and the resulting space gradually became bleaker and rougher and was used mainly as a car park, though it was nigh on impossible to avoid potholes! The private development, Glenravel House and its adjoining car park, was built in 1996 and covered most of the site, housing the Supervalu store and other smaller businesses. ARCHES dealt with the rest of the site and this became their Closing the Gap project to landscape and improve the remainder of this derelict area, the project being managed by George Graham.
In January 1998, the contract for the work was awarded to F.P. McCann & Co., the architect being John McKeown. The Scout group granted free use of their Hall for fortnightly site meetings which was very much appreciated as the weather was cold in those winter months. We were also able to use the Scout Hall kitchen to make tea which was very welcome.
One of the elements of the development was the new, high spec toilet block which was much needed and which is still in use today. A new road layout was introduced which dispensed with the little old curved bridge making traffic flow better and simpler and also provided some disabled parking adjacent to the supermarket and Ulster Bank. Ownership had always been disputed by Council and Roads Service but after completion Roads Service adopted the Lane. The whole area was landscaped and has been maintained since by Council.
To complete the project a historical, industrial feature was added at the Main Street end comprising an original turbine from the Old Bleach site backed by a picture of workers in the factory taken, it is thought, in the 1940’s. The project was officially opened in May 1998 by Jim Dougal who was European Commissioner for Northern Ireland at the time.
