Omagh District Council, Public Services Centre, 16 High Street, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT78 1BQ, ***See General Comments***

The former Town Hall at 16 High Street, Omagh, has been demolished and replaced in 2008 with the Omagh District Council Public Services Centre.

The original building was a three-storey structure with a slated roof, yellow brick chimneys, and rendered, lined and painted walls. It featured a moulded eaves cornice and ground floor quoins. The second and first floors each had four windows, whilst the ground floor had three windows, all of double-hung sash type with Georgian panes and moulded architraves. The upper sashes contained horizontal astragals. The ground floor windows and an off-centre doorway all had elliptic arch heads with bevelled keystones. The door was panelled with a plain fanlight. The building was protected from the footpath by a low wall and cast iron railing, with a frontage of approximately 45 feet.

The interior contained an assembly room capable of seating about 500 people, featuring a gently coved panelled ceiling with three lantern lights. The two side walls behind the stage were modelled in the form of a blind arcade with ionic columns. The gallery had a beautifully curved front with curved iron balusters, though this was later compromised by the insertion of a modern proscenium.

The building was acquired by the Urban District Council of Omagh from the Ulster Banking Company, which had relocated to a new building on the adjacent site in 1909. The auditorium and council chambers were designed by Derry architect John M Robinson. Construction was carried out by Belfast contractor Isaac Copeland, commencing in 1913 under the direction of John Thompson, Clerk of Works. The dome was designed and built by the specialist firm Heywood & Co of Huddersfield, whilst the ornamental iron railing of the balcony was supplied by Walter McFarlane & Co of Glasgow. An opening concert was held in September 1915. The building served as the centre of entertainment in Omagh for 82 years, and housed pupils of what became the technical college from the early 1920s.

Following a bombing in December 1974, much of the front of the building was demolished and landscaped. The remaining Assembly Room was statutorily listed on 8 January 1981. The building closed in May 1997 and was subsequently demolished to make way for the modern Public Services Centre constructed in 2008.

There is also a local tradition that King James rested in a former house on the same site for one night during his flight from Derry.