Handover of new St Columb’s Park Gate Lodge welcomed

The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Lilian Seenoi Barr, has overseen the official handover of the new gate lodge building at St Columb’s Park.

The project, which was led by Council’s Green Infrastructure Team with support from the UK Government, is the first element in the development of the Acorn Farm, an ambitious environmental initiative which will provide an innovative urban growing space in the Waterside area.

The £6.2 million Acorn Farm capital build project will completely transform the former MOD site and provide a dedicated area for the development of exciting new food growing technologies.

The Gate Lodge building sits at the entrance to St Columb’s Park House and will act as a new Park Ranger base and house welfare facilities for the adjoining Acorn Farm. The lodge is Council’s first building to be built to Passive House standard, meaning that it’s extremely economical to run in terms of energy consumption.

The Mayor met with a representative from the funder, the UK Government, the Architect Paul McAllister, the contractor, Willie Doherty, and other project partners to get a tour of the completed building.

Acknowledging this important first milestone in the project, Mayor Barr said: “This is a fantastic start to what is a transformational project for St Columb’s Park, and one which will bring with it so many benefits in terms of conservation and education.

“I want to thank all those involved in delivering this new building, which will be an important facility for the local community, serving as a new HQ for our Waterside Park Ranger Service and a key entry point to St Columb’s Park. It’s a little teaser of what’s to come and I am really looking forward to seeing the work progress on the rest of this ambitious and significant environmental project.”

UK Minister for Local Growth and Building Safety Alex Norris said: “The completed Gate Lodge building is the first step towards an amazing environmental and community hub at St Columb’s Park.

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“The Acorn Farm project promises to be a shining example of how hard work and creative thinking can bring new life to disused urban sites, and I will watch its progress with great interest.”

Karen Philips, Director of Environment and Regeneration at Council, said: “The ambition for the Acorn Farm site including the buildings, external works and landscape, is to achieve climate resilience and whole life net zero emissions. This is in line with Council’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan and our transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilience across the City and District by 2045.

“This is just one element of that wider vision, and I want to thank both our funders and the project team for all their hard work in delivering this fantastic building.”