Marlborough House – that love-it-or-loathe-it behemoth presiding over Craigavon – is expected to be “disposed of” within the next few months.
The throwback to the 1970s has been at the heart of local administration in Northern Ireland for decades.
Officially granted listed building status last October, the move to protect the structure came to the chagrin of some while leaving supporters simply grinning.
But whatever your opinion, the next chapter for the Marmite-likened Marlborough House is ready to be written.
One local MLA hopes that it will not lie empty long before a new tenant can be found to ensure a productive and fitting future.
The building is presently owned by the Department for Finance and has served its purpose as a home to the Civil Service.
But Minister John O’Dowd, on the floor of the Assembly late last year, declared: “Marlborough House is the worst-performing site in the Civil Service estate with regard to energy efficiency and is significantly under-occupied.”
Ouch!!
To that end, he added: “A business case has been approved for replacement accommodation for Civil Service staff, with the preferred option being High Street Mall in Portadown.
“That is progressing, with the accommodation expected to be ready in the coming weeks.
“Notice to all occupants has been issued of the Department’s plans and to vacate the building at the end of their occupational agreements this financial year.
“Non-Civil Service bodies located in Marlborough House are progressing with their own plans for their future accommodation.”
Now that flit is fast coming close, as Minister O’Dowd has this week given an update on plans to leave a building no longer, it appears, up to the task.
Asked by Newry and Armagh DUP MLA Gareth Wilson on the future for Marlborough House, Minister O’Dowd said the Department of Finance is still “progressing with plans to vacate”.
It would then be declared ‘surplus’, with the timeframe given for this “in Q4 2026”, after which “the Department intends to dispose of the site”.
Mr Wilson, meanwhile, is keen to see all the stops being pulled out in a bid to have it inhabited once more, as to leave it vacant, he believes, raises the potential and probability of attracting anti-social elements.
He told Armagh I: “It is important, despite the restrictive Historic Building Listed status of Marlborough House, when the building is fully vacated and listed for disposal, that every effort is made to find a viable use for the building.
“To have a building of this size and in such a central location in Craigavon lie vacant and possibly severely deteriorate and then attract vandalism or anti-social behaviour, would be hugely detrimental.
“That must be avoided and, hopefully, the disposal process will ultimately be successful in preventing this from occurring and will unlock an economically beneficial development of the building.”
Here is hoping – alas, money may speak loudly but it will be time that will tell.
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