It was once a haven for a generation of young people, a place to go, to socialise, where life-long friendships were forged.
But the Pinebank Community Centre in Craigavon is now gone and the site on which it stood is now up for sale.
The community centre offered all manner of games and opportunities; it was a place to feel safe and engage with your peers, during some of the darkest days of the Troubles.
It really was a lifeline.
It was also, in 1999, the venue used for talks to try and resolve the Drumcree march dispute, which two years earlier had led to clashes and violence on streets across Northern Ireland.
Face-to-face meetings took place between the two sides led, by former First Minister and Upper Bann Ulster Unionist MP David Trimble, and Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition spokesperson Breandán Mac Cionnaith, in a bid to broker the deal.
The area surrounding the Pinebank Community Centre had, in latter years, become a hot-bed for anti-social behaviour.
The centre itself later closed and has since been demolished.
But now the site and surrounding lands is on the market for sale, with an asking price in the region of £1.25 million.
Outline planning permission had previously been granted for 91 houses to be build. This, however, has since lapsed.
But marketing agent Avison Young is advising any potential buyer that there exists the potential for a “greater density” of houses to be built here “subject to consents”.
The now brownfield site – stretching to just over 13 acres – is described as “irregularly shaped and cleared of all buildings”.
It “comprises the former Pinebank Community Centre and is located with direct access from Tullygally Road, close to its junction with Lake Roadand directly opposite the Rowan Park/Manor housing development”.
According to the agent: “The site slopes up from the Tullygally Road towards its rear boundary, an adopted pedestrian and cycle path. It benefits from extensive tree cover and Tree Preservation Orders are in place within the site, however, it is felt that these mature trees will create a unique environment that will help to provide a mature landscape to any proposed new housing development.”
Describing the location at Craigavon as “centrally located” within the ABC Council area, it is expected to generate a good deal of interest in an area where there has been much development in recent years.
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