Greysteel in Co Derry will long be remembered as the scene of the 1993 Hallowe'en massacre when loyalist gunmen shot dead eight local people in the Rising Sun Bar.
The atrocity was one of the most horrific of the Troubles and made local people even more determined to work together to secure a better future for their community. The fruits of their efforts are now being realised in a new multi-purpose centre, which will provide retail outlets, sports and leisure facilities and industrial units.
The manager of Greysteel Community Enterprises, Mr Martin Quinn, said the organisation was set up as a direct response to the killings. The night of the massacre was a defining moment for people living in the area and the new Vale Centre was intended as "a living memorial to those who lost their lives in the massacre and a testimony to the spirit of the local people to move on together".
The centre, just a couple of hundred yards from where the shootings took place, is being developed in five phases. The last of 10 retail/business units has now been let, and phase two, which includes an all-weather floodlit sports field to be used for Gaelic, soccer, rugby and cricket, should be ready by the summer.
A community resource centre with an indoor sports hall, meeting rooms, a library and a computer suite is on schedule to open in April, while construction work on industrial units is due to start in September. In the long term it is also hoped that the final phase of the project, a 100-seat restaurant, will be possible with the backing of the private sector.
Mr Quinn said he believed the centre would be a success because those behind the project were truly representative of both traditions. "Our aim is to bring people together and celebrate diversity and differences between the two traditions. People are totally committed to the project and are determined to put Greysteel on the map, but this time for all the right reasons," he said.