Background
The Vision & Development of The JunctionA number of years ago, STEP began a series of conversations with others about developing a major capital project which would meet shared needs and provide a legacy building for the local community which STEP has served for almost twenty years.
In partnership with the then Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council, STEP embarked on a journey to secure funding through EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) in the form of ‘the EARLS Project’.
STEP wanted to develop, in partnership with other local groups, a shared space that would have multiple uses supporting key community services and local volunteer – led activities while also offering the wider public, community and business sectors a state of the art exhibition and meeting space, a place where everybody in the community, local and visitor, could feel ‘at home.’
The Name
The new centre is called “The Junction”. The Junction links to the previous use of the land on which the building is situated.
It was formerly a railway halt for the historic Dungannon railway line and more recently part of Railway Park. The name further represents the junction at which the various organisations using the centre will meet and set out on a new shared path.
Funding
The new landmark community building based at Beechvalley Way, is part of the EARLS Project delivered by Mid Ulster Council and STEP working in partnership.
The building is part of a £7million European investment project in Dungannon, the other elements of the project being delivered by Mid Ulster District Council are a new viewing tower and events space on Hill of the O’Neill, along with a new 6.9km path which will link key recreational spaces in the town.
The funding was secured under the EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
