Bridevale AC donate towards Rathcormac 2030 development plans
Bridevale Athletics Club recently donated €5,000 toward the Rathcormac Community Field and Sports Hub development.
Rathcormac Community Council (RCC) is currently in the process of developing the 10 acre community field, purchased from NAMA in 2013, and are now fundraising for Phase 3 of the ambitious project.
New tennis courts, an athletics track, basketball court, wedding garden, family picnic area, along with seating and outdoor exercise machines are to be installed as part of this phase.
“We are delighted and appreciative of the efforts that Bridevale Athletic Club have made and show the community spirit that is Rathcormac. It is by pooling our resources and talents that we will see the completion of the track, thereby encouraging athletic events and attracting more people into the village,” said Conor Gurrin, RCC secretary.
Bridevale is a local athletics club that was established in 2018 and has 80 members. Every year the club run the ‘Rathcormac 4 Mile Race’ event and this year, the funds were donated toward the community field’s development.
MORE TO COME
Speaking with TheAvondhu, Bridevale AC chairman, Terry Broderick said that the club aims to continue its fundraising efforts for the project.
“We’ve raised some money for it and we’ve more to raise. It’s an ongoing project, there’s going to be a running track put in here in due course and we want to make our contributions towards it.
“This is a facility we will use as a club, especially with the running track, and hopefully down the line it would be great for juveniles and for running clubs around the community, it would be a facility for everybody to use,” Mr Broderick enthused.
RCC had approached the club last year, asking them to research the most appropriate track for the park - a Mondo track was determined as being the best value for money, whilst maintaining a high standard.
The track will be 200m in circumference with a 100m tangent and is seen as being the highest standard track. Expected to cost in the region of €230,000, it is hoped that it will be identified as a regional project for funding by Sports Capital Ireland.
According to RCC chairman, Bob Seward, monies raised will be put towards local grant contributions, necessary as part of any funding application.
Mr Seward noted that the expected cost of the entire Community Field and Sports Hub development is in the region of €1.4 million and that €930,000 has already been committed to the project.
“The first phase was over €460,000. That was all of the underground works which you can’t see, that had to go in. There was quite an amount of money just to get it up to the initial stages,” he added.
Current fundraising efforts have garnered ‘ great support’ to date, according to Bob.
“We’re getting great support. There’s a number of businesses that have already come on board and we haven’t even fully approached businesses yet either and they’ve already come to us. We’ve started collecting within the community. It’s the first time that we have gone to the community for this particular project and we’re already getting great support on that.
“We have absolutely fantastic support from the car boot sale and they’ve helped generate a lot of funds as well. Without their support and that parish group, it would have been very difficult, because they’ve been able to leverage funds which have been a massive benefit to us being able to get the works done here.
“What all of this will come to is an absolutely fantastic 10-acre facility right in the centre of the village, adjacent to the school and the church and the car park,” Mr Seward said.
COMMUNITY SPACE NEEDED
Importantly, Mr Seward noted that RCC is ‘ shovel ready’ on the majority of the projects with plans and planning permissions in place, including for the recently approved €4 million Innovation and Learning Hub, which will be in place at The Fair Green where the old school is sited, however, they now require grant funding to carry out the projects to completion.
“It is a major, major investment. The GAA have fantastic facilities, but there’s not a whole lot for the wider public. Rathcormac has built up so much over the last number of years. There’s been a massive influx of people but there’s been no central community space really for people and we certainly need that.
“Getting a facility like this for them, what we have then is a core for the community and to have it this close to the centre, it’s going to be a massive benefit. The centre core of the village is going to be completely transformed. We’re going to be a real model village with a real good centre core for a town in years to come and that’s really what the plan is,” Mr Seward said.
Information leaflets on the development are available through RCC and have been dropped to many households in the community. Donations can also be made online via a GoFundMe page entitled ‘Rathcormac Community Park and Sports Hub’ and more information is available at www. rathcormacvillage.com.