The Old School
GhOST’s first project was to developed plans for the former Gracehill primary school, a historic listed building in the village which had suffered a fire and become redundant. The former primary school became vacant in 1999 and so began a campaign to restore and reuse this important building. The Trust worked with Ballymena Borough Council to acquire the building and subsequently sought funding in the region of £1.5 million to make the plans a reality.
Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and others including Ballymena Borough Council, the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) and Ulster Garden Villages secured the refurbishment of this important listed building. EHS provided £120,000 of the purchase cost of the building in a pilot scheme that was subsequently rolled out across Northern Ireland.
The Trust were delighted to receive support that enabled not only the conservation of the Old School but also the provision of tourist amenities including a restaurant, visitors centre and a historic classroom in addition to space for community use, business use and even an after schools club.
The building is now home to the award winning Millside restaurant, business units, Gracehill After School Club and the exhibition area detailing the unique history of the village and the international connections as well as the restored eighteenth century classroom have proved very popular with visitors.
Over twenty new jobs have been created and a much loved old building has been repurposed to serve at the heart of the community for many years to come.
Since opening the Old School has been a great success, central to much activity in the village and welcomed many visitors including a few VIPs!
A visiting tour group.
Then Minister for the Environment NI, Mr Mark H Durkin MLA visited the 1820 era historic classroom in 2014.
The, then, Prince of Wales enjoys a joke with the Country Markets group during a visit in 2011