New lease of life for Fitzgerald Park’s lord mayor’s pavilion
The city council, which is overseeing the €2.3m regeneration of the park on the Mardyke, has invited proposals from creative, entrepreneurial, or cultural individuals or groups, to take over the building as a cultural, artistic or entrepreneurial space.
The building will be let for a nominal fee of a maximum of €10.
City officials said the space should complement the existing park characteristics and, at times, aim to engage with audiences and groups to animate the park environment.
“It is the expectation of Cork City Council that there will be a social, cultural and community benefit to the local citizens in return for the use of the building,” a council spokesperson said.
“This may be in the form of free talks, workshops, activities or exhibitions.”
But officials have insisted that the space cannot be used as a café or museum which would be in conflict with existing facilities and businesses within the park.
Interested parties have been given until the end of the month to submit their proposals for the building.
The pavilion was built in 1901 after the first elected lord mayor of Cork, Edward Fitzgerald, proposed that Cork should stage an international industrial exhibition in 1902 on the site where the park stands today.
The president and lord mayor’s pavilion was one of the few structures built for the exhibition which were designed to be permanent.
The exhibition opened on May 1, 1902, and the pavilion was used to host distinguished guests and provide them with afternoon tea.
When the exhibition closed on November 1, 1902, it was decided to stage a similar exhibition the following year, which went on to attract some two million visitors, including the King of England, Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Recently, the pavilion underwent a sensitive restoration project, and was reopened in 2011 by British Ambassador to Ireland His Excellency Julian King.
Its ground floor was used as an exhibition space, its upper floor used by the city’s park rangers.
Meanwhile, work on the overall park revamp, which began last July, is continuing, with a completion date of mid-to late-April.
Key elements of celebrity gardener, Diarmuid Gavin’s Chelsea Flower Show gold medal-winning Sky Garden, will be installed in the park, and the park’s historic Fr Matthew fountain and ornamental pond have already been upgraded.
The finished park will have a new bandstand, a sunken lawn and public seating areas, a walled Victorian garden, and a new main entrance and plaza area.
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