GAA and community base for Ardee site
A site at Castle Guard and the Ardee link Road should become the hub for a major new recreational and community driven complex.
Cllr Dolores Minogue (right) has put forward the proposal if the new GAA stadium plan for Dundalk fails to go ahead.
‘If that idea falls, then we must consider Ardee’, she said.
She has met with ‘interested parties’ who say that selling the land is something they will consider.
‘ This is the chance for some forward thinking and creating a vision for Ardee and the county as a whole’, she said.
Her proposal is: Construct the new Louth county grounds on the site, right in the heart of the county.
Build a community facility with it, to include dressing rooms, meeting rooms, etc. They will be used by teams using the GAA ground but also include the many sporting organisations in Ardee who need a centre to meet up.
It could include a creche and a community room, that could be used by the likes of the HSE.
A major park and ride facility on the site. That would serve the people leaving Ardee to work. Presently the town is full of all day parkers. It would also house vehicles who use the slip roads off the motorway for all day parking.
The plan would feature a running track.
‘A chance like this may never come again. With the bypass coming as well, access to the site would be ideal. If it’s found that Dundalk cannot work, let Ardee and mid Louth lead the way’, she vowed.
‘ The potential for these lands is huge. We would need to get them rezoned for such facilities, but they have been just lying there for too many years.
‘ This ticks all the boxes in relation to the needs of the region’, she added.