Glass rear addition to Town Hall welcomed

A PLANNED new glass building at the rear of Skibbereen Town Hall (pictured), that will serve as a new entrance and box office, has the potential to draw even more shows to the facility, according to a Skibbereen councillor.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) welcomed the news that was announced at a recent meeting of the Municipal District of West Cork. 

‘It is envisaged that a new entrance, complete with a box office that is wheelchair-friendly, will be built at the side of the town hall. The old café extension at the back will be demolished and in time, hopefully, there will be extra seating in the hall, which will attract bigger shows,’ said Cllr Carroll. ‘This new entrance is part of the works that we wanted, using the €200,000 that was set aside out of development charges just before Skibbereen Town Council was abolished, and it will make it a more modern facility. This is something I raised on many occasions, about where the money was for the improvements to the hall.’       

Municipal officer Justin England told councillors at the meeting that building a new box office at the rear of the building will allow for an accessible entrance going into the theatre.

‘It won’t affect the front of the building and when we start the public realm works, we will be working on it and it will look fantastic and should be a very nice feature,’ he said, adding that they intend to proceed with the planning process.

Cllr Paul Hayes (SF) said this would be a fantastic facility for Skibbereen.