Tenders published to turn Cork City home of George Boole into visitor centre

The redevelopment of the former Cork City home of maths genius George Boole as a visitor centre and business and research hub takes a major step forward this week.

Tenders have been published seeking expressions of interest for the consolidation, conservation, and conversion of the derelict and protected Grenville Place property as the Boole House of Innovation.

Responses are due within weeks, fuelling hopes that a contract could be awarded early in the new year.

News of the tenders comes as UCC’s year-long Boole 200 commemorative year comes to an end.

The restoration of Boole’s former lodgings at Grenville Place, where he wrote his groundbreaking Laws of Thought, was one of the year’s flagship projects. The joint Cork City Council-UCC project will involve the structural consolidation, conservation, repair, and restoration of the house.

It is hoped the restored building will feature a ground-floor visitors’ centre, with a science, maths, and computers theme, with flexible open plan spaces on the upper floors for business incubation units and research.

Boole, a self-taught mathematical genius, was UCC’s first professor of mathematics in 1849.

His pioneering work with algebra and logic led to the creation of Boolean Logic — a key building block for modern coding and computing.

As the council liaised with the legal representatives of the building’s owner, who had inherited it around 2004, it emerged the title to the property was defective and attempts by the owner to resolve the situation had failed. The property was declared derelict in 2009, then suffered severe flooding damage later that November when the quay-wall at Grenville Place was breached.

It is believed this flood damage contributed to a partial collapse of some of the building’s internal floors in October 2010. The council undertook stabilisation works to prevent further damage and explored with UCC possible future uses for the building, but lack of funds stalled progress.

UCC

A technical survey and a feasibility study were commissioned and when UCC designated 2015 as the Year of George Boole, the redevelopment became a reality.

City councillors approved the compulsory acquisition of the building earlier this year, and plans were drawn up. The building was recently transferred to UCC, and now the restoration project is poised to start.