PLANS for disused Council-owned buildings including the old fire station in Clonakilty have moved a step closer.
This follows confirmation that a final IUS (Integrated Urban Strategy) with outline design and specifications for the buildings in Kent Street is to be developed.
Cork County Council has secured €200,000 of THRIVE (Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme) funding for this phase of the project and a strategy must be devised by the end of this month, ahead of securing any national or EU funding for the projects.
This project aims to support local authorities and citizens in reimagining town centres and transforming publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings through renovation, renewal and adaptive reuse.
At a recent check-in meeting in the Clonakilty Parish Centre the main points influencing the Kent Street IUS framework were summarised.
‘The consultants summarised the development process followed and outlined the context influences. Stakeholder priorities were considered,’ said a Council spokesperson.
‘An emerging draft concept response was presented, which will now be developed into a final IUS with outline design and specifications for the buildings in the study area.’
At last month’s meeting results from a public survey were outlined by Tara Kennedy (Workshop Bantry) with the majority of those surveyed saying the old fire station is of most interest to them as a space.
Other suggestions for the use of these empty buildings ranged from a community café, theatre space, market space, gallery space or green areas.
Council officials told attendees that the final document will help them secure funding to move onto the next stage of the project.
