Run-down Perry Street to get major revamp after decades of neglect

Planning permission for the ambitious scheme to renew Perry Street, which has suffered neglect and decay for several decades, was due to be passed by Mid Ulster Council.

The Castlehill Regeneration Group, formed by members of the Orange Lodge in the town, will oversee the redevelopment work.

The street, which features a set of so-called virtual shops was bought three years ago by the Orange Lodge of Dungannon.

The row went under the hammer for £230k, double the original asking price.

At the time, a spokesperson for the lodge said: “It’s a very big project for a wee tiny lodge, but we’re quite confident that we can work together with all the different agencies and do something for the people of Dungannon.

“Perry Street had been sitting so long and with it being the gateway to Dungannon if you like, we felt, maybe as a lodge we could do something with it to help - do our wee bit to enhance Dungannon.”

It is planned to knock down numbers 4-36 Perry Street and rebuild in three stages over a period of three years, with work hoped to be getting underway in spring next year.

The Regeneration Group hopes to accommodate businesses presently occupying the section of the street affected by moving them to different units along the street as work progresses.

It is envisaged the final project will include eight houses and five shops in the mixed development.

In 2011, Perry Street hit the headlines by becoming the first ‘virtual street’ in Northern Ireland after being transformed by government funding from a run down terrace of derelict and boarded up properties into a living street, complete with new and inviting ‘interiors’ seen through the refurbished shop windows.