A two-storey glass-fronted "foyer of reflection" will form the centrepiece of a new community house to be built on the bomb site in Omagh where 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed in August, 1998.
Funding of £300,000 from the British lottery has been confirmed for the project involving three private landowners, the district council and 14 community groups.
When construction workers move on to the site in April it will be an important sign that Omagh is moving on from the single most horrific incident of the Troubles.
The site remains empty and flattened, "a very, very visible scar" according to Mr Conor McGale, secretary of the Omagh Community House project.
"There are a lot of victims' relatives who still have difficulties coming into that particular area of the town," he said. "This will show that Omagh is picking up the pieces and facing the future in a positive way."
The foyer of reflection will hold letters and books of condolences as well as art works given to the people of the town after the bombing.
"It will be a lasting and fitting legacy to the people who lost their lives and we hope it will encourage people to come in and have a look at all that was contributed to Omagh after that day."
Housing the community groups under one roof will provide a "one-stop shop" and will bring more people back into that area, he said. The emphasis in the business community is very much on planning for the future rather than dwelling on how commercial life was damaged by the bomb. A strategy document, Omagh 2010, was unveiled in November, setting out ambitious targets for the town in various sectors, including the economy, healthcare and educational facilities.
Mr Shane Campbell of the Omagh Business Forum, which drew up the document, said a number of goals had already been achieved. Plans are also in place to provide a new throughpass.
Work is progressing on developing a new shopping centre and a civic arts theatre. Mr Campbell said discussions were ongoing with the authorities on setting up a task force to implement the strategy.
"Things are definitely looking up for Omagh. We had a very good Christmas, one of the best in the last decade," he said. One of the key aims is to increase retail floor space to try to reduce "leakage" - the amount of money being spent outside the area.
Targets in the 2010 strategy include the creation of 4,500 new jobs, reducing unemployment to 1 per cent below the average in the North, and getting 80 per cent of businesses connected to the Internet.
In healthcare, the aim is to reduce the number of smokers from 29 per cent to 15 per cent and the numbers regarded as overweight from 50 per cent to 30 per cent.