Former grow house may get major revamp into retail unit

CORK County Council is considering an application to refurbish a building that was once used as a cannabis grow house in Skibbereen.

The Bantry-based firm of architects, Daly Barry and Associates, submitted the planning application in respect of The Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant and Take Away at North Street, Skibbereen.

In their application, the architects state: ‘Our clients have taken on a building which has been an eyesore in Skibbereen for the last number of years and which will require significant work to return it to a habitable standard.’

The architects also note that the building is better known as The Windmill Tavern and is presently just ‘a shell’ because the fire gutted much of the internal partitions and the walls have been removed.

Their application is to develop a new ground floor retail space, as well as one and two-bedroom apartments.

Four units of the fire brigade attended the fire that broke out shortly after midday on Wednesday, March 7th 2012. 

The fire started after a heater in one of the grow rooms malfunctioned, but the danger wasn’t immediately obvious because the windows onto North Street had been covered.

Cork County Council deemed the initial application ‘invalid’ and a fresh application was submitted on Friday, February 3rd last – it is this application that is now being considered by the local authority.