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Ecos Centre to become third Northern Ireland Science Park

The Ecos Centre in Ballymena is to become a third camus of the Northern Ireland Science Park
The Ecos Centre in Ballymena is to become a third camus of the Northern Ireland Science Park The Ecos Centre in Ballymena is to become a third camus of the Northern Ireland Science Park

THE Northern Ireland Science Park is to open its third base as it takes over the former Ecos Centre in Ballymena.

The £1.6 million expansion of the start-up incubator will breathe life into the former visitor centre which had opened amid fanfare in 2000 before quickly falling out of favour.

The science park already has campuses in Belfast and Derry and provides space for businesses with a particular focus on the knowledge economy.

The move will provide a boost to Ballymena which has sustained a series of high-profile job losses at JTI and Michelin.

The Ecos Centre was built at a cost of £10m as a visitor attraction to educate families and school group about concepts such as low carbon energy, resource reduction, re-use and recycling.

However it failed to keep pace with modern advances and visitors dried up.

Mid and East Antrim Council last year announced plans to seek a new use for the centre as they considered whether to carry out £300,000 repairs on a badly leaking roof.

Mid and East Antrim mayor of Mid Billy Ashe said: "We look forward to opening the doors in late 2016 when the site will come alive again, not only as a workspace, but also as a visitor attraction where innovation can be seen in action."

The science park’s director of corporate services Mervyn Watley said the centre was ideally placed to access high-speed internet.

The centre will feature 20,000 sq ft of space across four flours with shared and private workspaces on "commercial but flexible term", he added.

Space on the ground floor will remain with interactive digital systems to allow visitors to explore the science, technology and enterprise of the region, past and present.

Meanwhile, key artefacts and outdoor exhibits will be distributed throughout the adjacent wetland park.

Mr Watley added: “Originally as a millennium project – later funded through the Big Lottery Fund - Ecos focused on a major issue for the 21st century: innovations in sustainability.

“Unfortunately the technology to deliver its own vision was not available or affordable, so visitors to the iconic building and the wet-land park surrounding it have diminished."