AMBITIOUS plans to rebuild Ballynahinch’s War Memorial are being supported by Down Council.
The local authority has agreed to dip into its financial reserves to help meet the cost of the cross-community project.
Agreement to fund the redevelopment of the memorial was recently agreed by local politicians and has been welcomed by councillor Walter Lyons.
A restoration committee comprising local people has been established to spearhead the provision of a new granite memorial to replace the existing structure which was built using reconstituted Portland stone.
Restoration officials addressed Down councillors in August and explained that while the original memorial was to be constructed from granite, the cost was too expensive during the austerity of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Councillor Lyons said the cenotaph belonged to the people of the town and was not owned by the Royal British Legion. He said the memorial at the top of High Street was built and is owned by local people.
A public meeting held earlier this year to discuss rebuilding the memorial resulted in overwhelming agreement to provide a new granite structure.
Councillor Lyons said there is much more to the project than rebuilding the current memorial, explaining local schools are keen to get involved in the restoration project by finding out more about the people from the Ballynahinch area who died during the Great War.
“There are 50 names on the current memorial, but research has uncovered an additional 51 men from the area who died during the Great War and these will be included on the cenotaph,” explained Councillor Lyons.
“Great credit must go to the restoration committee for the time and effort it has invested in this project. I am pleased Down Council is to dip into its financial reserves to help deliver it.”
Councillor Lyons said there is a lot of support for the cross-community nature of the Ballynahinch project and hopes it won’t be long before the new memorial is in place.
Council officers are currently working on detailed costings of the new scheme and a paper seeking local authority permission to go to tender is expected to be discussed by politicians shortly.