Ideas aplenty for famous Áras Phádraig

MORE THAN 100 SUGGESTIONS ON FUTURE OF LEWIS ROAD BUILDING

KERRY County Council (KCC) has told The Kerryman it received over 30 written and online submissions as part of a public consultation to determine the future of Áras Phádraig. It brings to over 100, the number of suggestions now proposed for the facility.

The council is leading a mission to give the Lewis Road-building a new lease of life and restore it to former glories; the once-thriving centre lies idle and was last used in 2009 as a count centre for local elections. The deadline for written and online submissions passed this week.

More than 100 individuals and groups have contributed to the process as a whole, after more than 60 people attended a public meeting on the matter at the Killarney Avenue Hotel last month. Suggestions on that night placed a strong emphasis on arts, performance space, theatre and culture.

A KCC spokesperson said it is ‘very pleased’ with the public’s response. All of the submissions will now be collated and summarised and a full report will be presented to the elected members of the council at the earliest opportunity.

A KCC spokesperson said Exodea Consulting Limited has been tasked with carrying out a feasibility study and a business plan for the building over the coming months.

The Franciscan Order gifted the building to the people of Killarney in 2009 but legal hold ups meant that the former Killarney Town Council was unable to take ownership of the facility.

Eight years later the transfer from the Friars to Kerry County Council is now ‘almost complete’ according to the local authority. Kerry County Council said the cost of refurbishing Áras Phádraig is undetermined and funding streams have yet to be decided upon.