A beacon of light
Welcome to the Verbal Arts Centre. The Centre has been described as “a beacon of light in a town that has suffered.” Before showing you around this unique facility I would like to provide an insight into the history of the building that is now the Verbal Arts Centre.

Blue Coat School
The earliest recorded school, founded in 1773, was known as the Blue Coat School - the name taken from the pupils’ distinctive blue uniforms. The boys led the singing in the church and in return were clothed, fed and educated. Having outgrown its original locations the school sought to relocate and identified “a most eligible site at a cost of £850”.

New Beginnings
The First Derry National School was formerly opened 1st November 1894. Built to the designs of W.E. Pinkerton at a total cost of £3,600 with its distinct features the building won high praise being both aesthetically pleasing and well suited to its purpose. Its layout designed to cater for an infants, boys and girls school - the latter pair having separate entrances.

Principals
In 1922 three separate schools merged under the principal-ship of William Crawford and the senior end of the school was further developed and considerable alterations were made to the school layout. In 1929 the school name was changed to the First Derry Public Elementary School.

In 1947 F.W. Logan became the new Principal. Two years later senior education ceased at the school and it became the First Derry Primary School. The school celebrated its centenary in 1994 before transferring to the new Fountain School the following year under the leadership of Mrs. I. McNally.

Modern History
In 1995 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society noted in their buildings at risk publication that further use of the former school was a difficult problem, there being no concrete ideas for its reuse. The Verbal Arts Centre purchased the decaying building and restored it through obtaining grant aid at a total cost of £1.7m . The purchase of this building has ensured its history of education will be maintained and the Verbal Arts Centre ensures the tradition of teaching, singing, learning and the practice of Verbal Arts are maintained.

Neutral venue
With input from ADAPT NI this building has been transformed to a universally accessible centre for all of the community. It has visual art counterpoints throughout the building, a capacity of over 300 people, capable of servicing 102 computer users at any one time, with a variety of rooms available for hire and located on the walls of Derry in a prime neutral inner city location. This building is well worth considering for a meeting, lecture, conference, cup of tea or even a visit.