27 May 2002
LOOK OUT FOR NEW LOOKOUT
The Minister for Social Development, Nigel Dodds, MP MLA, today unveiled a bright new look for the Lagan Lookout, one of Belfast’s most popular visitor attractions.
With its dome design and commanding position at Donegall Quay, the Lagan Lookout, which is swathed in blue light in the evenings, has been a striking addition to the city skyline since it first opened in 1994. Now, the inside of the building will have an equally dramatic image, enhancing the positive impression it already conveys about Belfast’s riverside heritage and regeneration to around 20,000 visitors.
Re-launching the Lookout, Mr. Dodds said: "The Lookout sits at the very heart of the Laganside regeneration story. The modernised facilities will provide an opportunity for visitors to share in the experience of how the river and surrounding areas have been transformed. An investment of £720million in Laganside has created 10,000 jobs and contributed so much to the renewal of our capital city.
"The new expanded Lookout facilities provide an important link between the dramatic regeneration of the river front and the city’s rich industrial and maritime heritage. Not only is it a popular visitor attraction but it also plays an important educational role. Children can see how Belfast’s waterfront has once again become a strong and vibrant part of our city."
The Lookout operates not only as an interpretive centre for the Lagan Weir, but also as a small visitor centre relating the story of Belfast’s waterfront regeneration and celebrating the city’s rich maritime history.
Importantly, the Lookout’s role as an education centre has flourished so that today it interfaces with the thirteen areas of the National Curriculum, notably geography, history and engineering.
Looking forward to the increased use of the facility, which is owned and managed by Laganside, the Corporation’s Chairman, Mr. Tony Hopkins, said; "The Lagan Lookout is already firmly established as an important resource for the city and we are delighted to re-invest in that success. Indeed, it is vital that we do so.
"After eight years of hard use almost any interior fittings would begin to seem rather tired and we felt that the Lookout deserved a re-think as well as refurbishment. The end result is a major change from what went before and will open up the use of the Lookout to a still wider audience."
The refurbishment has created an interior, which is now as uncompromisingly modern as is the exterior of the building. Bold purple and stainless steel, coupled with contemporary lighting, have been used to strong effect in the décor in a scheme designed by local company, Manley IMC.
Visitors to the centre will now enter at ground level and be directed up an internal stairway to a reception desk before entering the Lagan Lookout. The design channels them into a one directional tour, initially around the perimeter of the circular building then into the central zone. The perimeter is finished in stainless steel, which reflects the light and also permits exhibition panels to be hung – and easily changed.
The Lagan Lookout is now even user-friendlier for the disabled. Wheelchair users and children will also have better views of the Lookout’s fabulous views of Laganside thanks to a new raised ramp floor.
Improved presentation equipment and flexible seating have made the centre more attractive as a venue for lectures, product launches, meetings and educational tours while new Internet access computers have added to its educational impact and will, in the summer months, provide Internet café facilities
Mr. Hopkins welcomed the changes, saying; " Special events and attractions have in the past proved enormously successful at the Lookout and the refurbishment scheme which we unveil today creates the space and environment necessary to allow us to capitalize on the public appetite for such projects.
"We now have an interpretive centre of which we can be proud and which will stand in comparison with the very best in its sector. Indeed where else could one find such qualities matched with such splendid views and how many venues can offer, as we can, the chance to actually walk on the riverbed, deep in one of the tunnels beneath the weir? That very special selling point remains a unique advantage of Belfast’s Lagan Lookout!"
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For further information please contact Colm Shannon DSD Information Office 028 9056 9211 or Rosemary Hamilton Future Image 028 9042 3314.
Click here to print this press release.
