New Tullamore Arts Centre will be 'vast, mesmerising, magnificent'

The long-awaited Arts Centre in Tullamore will be completed during the summer and it will be a bigger and better facility than many are expecting.

Councillors waxed lyrical about the new facility during this week's meeting of Offaly County Council, calling it a “game changer” and “magnificent”.

“We had a tour recently of the proposed new arts centre,” said Cllr Declan Harvey, Cathaoirleach, during the meeting. “It looks absolutely fabulous. The layout, the size, the spread, were all so impressive. I was taken aback by how big it is inside.”

Cllr Seán O'Brien said he loved the tour as well. “Excuse the pun but it will be a state of the art building. It has a lot of room for groups to meet and perform different aspects of the arts.

“It will be a brilliant addition to the centre of Tullamore. It will be brilliant for Offaly as a whole, not just Tullamore.

“The builders say they will be out by July. I hope they will remain true to their word.

“The new board met recently and there is a great energy. It is onwards and upwards.”

Cllr Tony McCormack agreed with the councillors. He said it's going to be a fantastic building and that it was like something you would see in Dublin or further afield, it was that good. He pointed out that there has been no project to compare to it in Tullamore thus far. It's massively positive.

Cllr McCormack warmly praised the work of Chief Executive Anna Marie Delaney who, he said, sometimes put her neck on the line, went above and beyond the call of duty in her pushing of the project.

“A lot of arts people and arts groups have been operating for years in substandard buildings,” Cllr McCormack continued. “That's going to change when Community Arts Centre finally opens. It will be a game changer.

“Already it is changing things because local property owners are beginning to develop their own properties / businesses in preparation for its opening.

“The Arts Centre will give its immediate area, the street it's on, a significant boost.”

He reminded everyone that there was strong feeling locally over a number of years about the need for an arts centre in the town. “During the local elections it was one of the major topics on the doorsteps.”

He said the Centre's Board has to raise €500,000 for the project. “The Board of Directors is deeply committed to raising that sum. They are working very hard at it.”

Cllr Harvey pointed out that the Board got a lot of flak about the project from members of the public during the last few years. “The Board took the criticisms on the chin and continued to work very hard.”

Cllr Danny Owens said he was on the tour as well. “Like the other councillors I was taken aback by the vastness inside. It will be a whole new revelation for the town. It will be very good for business in the town. I can't wait to see it open.”

Anna Marie Delaney praised Council staff Sally O'Leary, Sharon Kennedy and Joe Dooley for their excellent work on the project. She praised the board of management. “The board has stuck to it through thick and thin, through the ups and the downs.”

“Our tour was an eye-opener. It's a fantastic facility. I found it mesmerising. When you go into it, it is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.” She wished the new Board the very best in the months and years ahead.

Work is continuing on the major theatre and arts space project in Tullamore town centre and following the removal of builders' hoardings, the elevation facing the street can now be seen.

The arts complex, which will have a 250-seat theatre as its centrepiece, is being located on a site which runs from High Street down to the rear of the Bridge Centre. The projected cost of the centre is €5.2 million.

In 2020 Offaly County Council entered into an agreement with the Department of Culture for the provision of €2 million towards the building, which involves the refurbishment of the former Kilroy's store.

According to that agreement, the €2 million grant must be fully drawn down by October 31 next.

Another €200,000 is coming from the Government under an urban regeneration fund.

In 2019 the council agreed a €2.5 million loan for the project over 20 years.

In November 2021 the council was told that €150,000 was being provided to cover part of that loan repayment.

The council is also putting €100,000 towards the centre's initial operational costs.

Councillors were told in November that the local authority was setting up a new company to run the centre and that the centre's Board is committed to raising €500,000 in 2022.

According to the minutes of the meeting, council director of services Sharon Kennedy said she was confident the funding would be raised.

At the same meeting, council chief executive Anna Marie Delaney said the centre will become self-financing in the future.

The Kilroy's store was bought for €405,000 by the council.