Council to restore art deco bank building as part of £1bn City Deal

A landmark former Bank of Ireland art deco building will play a key role in a new £100 million tourism regeneration project after being bought by Belfast City Council.

Belfast Stories, as it will be known,  will be restored and reimagined as part of the  £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal.

Due to open in 2028, Belfast City Council said it plans to restore the building on Royal Avenue and develop the surrounding area “to tell the stories of Belfast, the people and the place, through a new interactive visitor experience”.

A new multi-screen cultural film centre and vibrant public spaces for events are also expected to feature.

The news follows the purchase of the former Provincial Bank of Ireland by the council in October, with the former Tesco sore now reopened as a cultural space.

Completed in 1930, the former Bank of Ireland building has been vacant since Bank of Ireland moved to Donegall Square South in 2005.

A subsidiary company of McAleer and Rushe last year entered the planning process proposing a hotel, offices and apartments scheme for the site and the surrounding 43,000 sq ft.