The art deco former Bank of Ireland building at the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street in the heart of Belfast is regarded as some of the finest Modernist architecture in the whole of Ireland, but has fallen into disrepair since the branch shut down 20 years ago. In 2021, Belfast City Council acquired the landmark building, along with a neighbouring 4,000 square metre site. It鈥檚 going to be turned into a tourism project called Belfast Stories, which will tell tales of ordinary people and their history and is expected to open in 2030. But when an update on the project came before a recent council committee, councillor Fred Cobain urged caution over the project. 鈥淔irst of all, I think it is financially irresponsible to guarantee any organisation a blank cheque,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hat is what we are doing with this organisation. 鈥淎ny losses picked up by the organisation, this council will have to pay for.鈥 Mr Cobain said the council 鈥渉ad some of experience of that鈥 with a women鈥檚 centre on the Shankill, which he said the council underwrote and wound up costing the local authority 拢600,000 鈥渇or a building that had nothing to do with the council鈥. He added: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with giving blank cheques to any organisation that isn鈥檛 up and running, and won鈥檛 be for another four or five years. We need to think about that carefully.鈥 An official replied that an outline business case was brought to the council earlier this year, with more detail on how Belfast Stories will operate to follow. She added that public consultation carried out last year and this shows the city broadly backs the 拢100m project, with 84% of locals saying they either definitely or probably would visit it. 鈥淐onsumer testing across the international markets was also really strong,鈥 she stated, informing the committee that the council has so far committed 拢35m to Belfast Stories and is in the process of securing 拢65m from the Belfast City Region Deal. The project is described as the 鈥渇lagship project in the tourism and regeneration strand of the Belfast Region City Deal programme of investment鈥. Delivered by Belfast City Council with support from partners, Belfast Stories aims to attract both tourists and locals while helping to regenerate the city and surrounding areas. It鈥檒l include a visitor attraction with exhibitions, a public space that can be used for music events and film screenings, and a 鈥渃reative hub鈥. Says a website set up to detail the vision and progression of the scheme: 鈥淏elfast Stories is not just a building, it鈥檚 an idea. 鈥淲e have started to map existing stories and record other stories from across the city through writing, audio recording, filming and music. 鈥淲e are designing new ways for people to record and share stories, creating an archive that will live both inside and outside the building. 鈥淏elfast Stories will tell the story of Belfast and its people in a uniquely inspiring way, boosting tourism and growing the city鈥檚 international reputation.鈥