Bangor Court House - Banking Reunion EHOD 2024 *CANCELLED*

About

** Cancelled **

Local historian Robert Lyle will lead a panel discussion of heritage and banking experts who will revisit the early years of this iconic building on Bangor seafront, County Down. Built as a branch of the Belfast Banking Company in 1866, the year after the railway came to Bangor, and with accommodation for the bank manager's family, the building heralded the arrival of Bangor's Victorian heyday as a thriving seaside resort. It remained a banking house until the 1950s when it was repurposed as a magistrate's court. The panel will include specialists and senior officials with a connection to the Belfast Bank, Bangor. They will explore what life would have been like in the building, both as a bank employee and as a resident, and how it played a major role in the life of the town.

Following the panel discussion, there will be a guided tour of the building, telling the fascinating story of its 150 year journey from bank building and then Magistrate's Court, to its recent transformation into a dedicated music and arts venue. Robert will talk you through the Victorian Italianate architecture, the Troubles fortifications, and the building's important role in Bangor's history.

Open House co-founder Alison Gordon will share the story of how this local arts charity acquired the building through Northern Ireland's first Community Asset Transfer, and oversaw a £1.7m restoration, winning the prestigious National Lottery Project of the Year Award 2023. You will see first hand how Open House Festival and the Court House are using arts and heritage to help drive regeneration in this Northern Irish seaside city, while preserving and celebrating its unique physical and cultural heritage.

After the event, you are welcome to stay and enjoy the Irish traditional music session that will take place in the venue's Open Arms Theatre Bar from 3 - 6pm.

** Cancelled **