UPDATE SOUGHT ON MALLOW ARTS CENTRE PLAN
ALMOST TWO YEARS ON AND WORK HAS YET TO START ON €2 MILLION ARTS CENTRE
LOCAL county councillors will next month be given a progress report on an ambitious €2 million plan to transform the former Town Hall in Mallow into a dedicated regional arts centre for the north cork region.
One of Mallow’s landmark buildings, the Town Hall had for decades served as the administrative centre for Mallow Town Council up until its abolition in 2014.
Almost two years ago Cork County Council confirmed it had commenced the process of seeking tenders for the arts centre, with plans for the project subsequently going on public display.
The centrepiece of the planned new facility is a second floor theatre and auditorium with seating for 200 patrons, with initial plans for the ground floor including a gallery/exhibition space, a tourist office, a youth arts rehearsal space, dressing rooms, a kitchen, toilets and office space.
Under the plan, the top floor of the buildings will be developed into artists’ studios and work spaces.
The project will be funded through a €1 million grant under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the balance coming from Cork County Council’s own coffers.
However, work has yet to begin on the centre, prompting a call from Cllr John Paul O’Shea that the council provide an update on what, if any, progress had been made on the project in the meantime.
“This was unveiled to great fanfare and hopes were high that work would begin on it early last year. However, we have heard nothing about the project for a long time and I am concerned that unless some progress is made the EU funding may be pulled,” said Cllr O’Shea.
He said it was important that councillors and the public were given clarity on the current status of the project, including a timeframe for the conversion.
“For this reason, I have requested that a report be brought before the March municipal district outlining what progress has been made and when we can expect work to commence,” said Cllr O’Shea.
A council spokesperson told The Corkman they were currently in the process of compiling a report on the project, which will be presented to councillors at the March meeting of the Kanturk/Mallow district committee. While the spokesperson said they were not yet able to reveal the content of the report it was the authority’s intention to proceed with the project “as previously outlined”.