The Cathedral Quarter Committee are celebrating after securing €200,000 to restore derelict buildings in Letterkenny’s most historic street.
Buildings along Church Lane will now benefit from a 2000,000 euro facelift. The money has been allocated by The Heritage Council under the Historic Towns Initiative Fund.
The project represented Donegal as the county’s only applicant to the scheme, competing with other areas across the country for the funding.
It’s the single biggest investment in the area and extensive work will now be carried out improving the appearance of the buildings.
This is the most momentous moment so far in a campaign to develop the Cathedral Quarter as a vibrant cultural, commercial and tourism area in the heart of Letterkenny.
The Chair of the Committee has welcomed the announcement. Gareth Wilkinson said, “With this funding, we’ve reached a major milestone. It comes as a tremendous boost.
“This is like polishing a historical gem. Important old buildings will be preserved and returned to their former glory. Locals can take pride in the restored buildings, visitors will want to come to the area. We’d like to thank the Heritage Council for recognizing the merits of our vision.
“This has come about because of the hard work from a dedicated committee of volunteers over the last five years. But it could not have happened without the support and goodwill from residents, landlords, business owners and church leaders in the area.
“We’ve also received tremendous backing from local elected representatives while the County Council threw its weight behind the application.
We hope this will accelerate other developments and unlock future investment. Already this is taking our campaign to a new level. We want to preserve the past to build a better future. The day the work begins will be a proud one.”
