This article is from page 7 of the 2011-05-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
A “HANDFUL” of sites in the Ennis area have been identified for a potential new town library.
Earlier this year, Clare County Council sought expressions of interest from the public in their efforts to identify a site/existing completed building for the re-development of the main public library and head quarters for Clare library service in Ennis.
The council was looking for a site of 1,600-1,800sq metres or alternatively an existing building with a floor area of up to 4,000 sq metres.
Speaking last week, County Librarian, Helen Walsh said there had been a good response to the appeal. “We wanted to see what was out there. We didn’t want to be overloaded so that’s why we were specific in the notice.”
She explained that any new site would have to meet a specific set of requirements in order to secure government funding. A new site, she said, would have to be in close proximity to local schools; be located in Ennis town centre and have sufficient space for parking. She said that a “handful” of sites have emerged and will now be further examined.
The current De Valera library building has been in use since 1973 but is now considered too small for the population of the town.
Ms Walsh said that the “size and history of Ennis demands that it have a good civic building”.
She added, “Some of the library buildings that have been built up and down the country over the past few years have been fantastic, award standard. That’s the kind of building we would be looking at. It would have to be a building for the future.”
Ms Walsh said that a site would have to be acquired before any approach could be made to the Department of Environment for funding.
She explained, “Any big capital projects like that, they would have to be built within a year. There could be no overrun into the next budget.”
The Post Office field had previously been identified as a potential site for a new library building. However, Ms Walsh said that the field “did not present as a site this time around”.