Report content as inappropriate
Original Text (Annotation: XAW027625 / 2125571)
'
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, commonly referred to as "Inst". They still seem to regret losing part of their grounds to house the Belfast Technical College
From the RBAI website, written in 2019:
"In 1902, at a time of financial difficulty, the Board of Governors took the decision to lease the north front lawn to Belfast Corporation for the building of the Belfast Municipal Technical Institute. Although regarded by some as an act of extraordinary architectural sacrilege, the arrangement did, nevertheless, provide the Institution with an annual rent of £1,350. This enabled the purchase of the magnificent grounds at Osborne Park in 1905 as well as a number of vital improvements to the fabric of the main Soane building."
As I write this it is 2021, so 119 years later, they still can't let it lie. '