Belfast Barge picking up the pieces and rebuilding months after devastating fire

Chris Logan at the Belfast Barge
-Credit: (Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)


Belfast's only floating heritage and arts centre is still picking up the pieces and rebuilding months after a devastating fire.

The Belfast Barge, which is located on the River Lagan beside the Waterfront Hall and operated by the charity Lagan Legacy, was damaged by a fire in the early hours of April 7. The initial investigation into the cause suggested it was not accidental.

The 64-year-old barge serves as a café, arts venue, community space, and heritage museum, featuring the history of shipbuilding in Belfast and worldwide. It opened to the public in the city in 2012.

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After the fire earlier this year, all events were cancelled and the site was closed for months. The fire was devastating, damaging many original elements of the barge, and the central site where systems including fuel and electrics run through.

Speaking to Belfast Live, general manager of the Belfast Barge, Chris Logan, said they are working hard to rebuild to pre-fire operations, but that they have taken a hit. He said: "It's been a mixed bag but a struggle. We were just getting back on our feet again after covid, then that happened and it just put us right back to zero.

Chris Logan outside the Belfast Barge
Chris Logan outside the Belfast Barge -Credit:Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live

"It just so happened where the fire was, it links to all our systems; the fuel, electrics and everything run through there. So due to that, it completely shut us down for several months. Since then, we've worked around it, we've had to pump an awful lot of money into it to try and get things back up and running again which has been a real struggle.

"I think it was a big shock for a lot of people to see it happen in the first place because obviously what we're trying to do is focus on bringing the community together. We're trying to reach out to like local bands, local artists of all descriptions, you know, poets, writers, to create an artistic hub in the centre of Belfast."

Chris said they have a "big job" ahead when it comes to restoring the barge to its former glory. With many of the original elements of the vessel now gone, the team are hoping to return many historic features to continue to educate on the history of ship building.

Many repair works that needed to be completed before the fire have now been amplified, too, and have been added to the overall works.

The Belfast Barge heritage museum
The Belfast Barge heritage museum tells the story of shipbuilding in the city and worldwide -Credit:Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live

He said: "The fire was like the carpet being ripped out from under us. All our systems essentially need to be rebuilt. What we've done is built a bridge in between them to get them, to get them all working, but we need to properly restore all the systems.

"It's systems like the heating, the electrics, then obviously rebuilding the part that was damaged because that was the part that was destroyed was the original wheelhouse that steered the boat and had all the equipment in it.

"Part of the barge is a history museum, looking into the history of ship building here and worldwide. That was the jewel in the crown, people could come up and see the wheelhouse to see how the boat works in essence. It was that living history that was destroyed in the fire.

"We're an arts centre, but also a heritage centre. It's all original historic features from when the boat was built, with much of that destroyed. So we want to restore that to its original state and continue offering that educational value to people."

The unique events space inside the Belfast Barge.
The unique events space inside the Belfast Barge. -Credit:Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live

At the time of the fire, the team at Belfast Barge were just recovering following the losses from the pandemic. As a not-for-profit charity, many of their staff are either volunteers or on events contracts, and so had to move on when the fire put them out of work for a few months.

As the events cycle means events will be planned months ahead, the space has lost many of its bookings for the year, after organisers weren't sure whether the barge would be back up and running in time.

Chris said: "It might seem like fun for the people who started the fire, but it cost a lot of people their jobs and livelihoods, especially in the events industry recovering after Covid.

"Our first event back was at the end of June. The first event back wasn't a music event, it was a private party, so actual music events didn't start up again until around July.

"Even though we may have gotten back up and running, what happened has had an impact on us as we're events orientated meaning everything is orgnaised months ahead. Our Christmas events we had planned have been affected, promoters may not be sure if the venue will be fit for their acts so they might put them on somewhere else.

Staff working in the Belfast Barge's bar and café
Staff working in the Belfast Barge's bar and café -Credit:Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live

"We may be up and running but it's going to take I would estimate a year to get where we were before the fire. We're taking it all one day, one week at a time.

"At the time of the fire, we had a full diary right through from January to December. The result is December, which was full, now has a lot more free days available."

The Belfast Barge team have started a fundraiser in a bid to help cover some of the repair costs involved in fixing and refurbishing the site.

"We started the funding campaign to try and just help us out. The cost we could aim for is nowhere near the cost of what it's actually going to cost to do all the repairs," Chris added.

"We just want people to know we are still here, and the venue is for the people of the city. We're running a wide range of different events for the whole community."

You can support the Belfast Barge through their fundraiser by clicking here.

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