Churchill House was constructed in the 1960’s by the Post Office to provide a base to run the telephone network from. The official opening took place on 2nd December 1966 with MP, Edward Short, Her Majesty’s Post Master General, in attendance.

When BT later took over the telephone network in Northern Ireland they took over the tower until 1998. During late 1998 BT moved their operations into new purpose built headquarters at Lanyon Place. When BT moved to the BT Riverside Tower, Churchill House remained as the home of many government departments.

Coming into the new millennium the future of the 19 storey tower was in doubt as the huge Victoria Square project began to take shape. Churchill House was located directly in the middle of the scheme which spans from Chichester Street to Ann Street.

At first the developers issued proposals and drawings with Churchill House retained and converted into a hotel and offices with a new façade to tie in with the retail scheme. However plans soon changed and one of the first tasks when site clearance began for the scheme was the demolition of Churchill House. The Department of Social Development’s (DSD) 500 staff moved out of the building during the summer 2004 into new headquarters at the Gasworks site.

Controlled Demolition Group were brought in to take up the task, however they quickly encountered a problem with the location of the building. Churchill House was located just one metre from its neighbour. The group extended this to ten metres by removing some of the other building and began removing the interior and glass windows from Churchill House. Prior to the implosion all that remained was a shell of a building wrapped in blast proof materials. Churchill House failed to make its 40th birthday before being removed from the skyline. Yet virtually no one wished to prevent this, as the building in its last few years was seen by many as dull, ugly and outdated among other things.

The implosion occurred on a clear Sunday morning in November 2004 after all 2,500 charges were installed over the previous weeks. The 90kg of explosives brought Churchill House to the ground in a matter of seconds and just as planned. The delayed explosion of each charge throughout the building brought it down in a direction away from buildings to be protected.

On Sunday 21st November 2004 a landmark or eyesore depending on your on view was removed from the Belfast skyline. To see what now occupies the site visit the Victoria Square section of futurebelfast.com.