Spike Island visitor centre contracts signed

Contracts have been signed for the fit-out of a new visitor centre on Cork Harbour’s Spike Island — Ireland’s version of Alcatraz — which is expected to attract up to 90,000 visitors annually within three years.

Cork County Council confirmed yesterday Spike Island Development Company, a fully owned subsidiary of the local authority, has awarded the interpretive and exhibition fit-out contract to Hadley Interiors Ltd, a specialist company.

A spokesperson for the development company said it was confident a planned completion date of June 2016 for phase 1 will be achieved.

If follows a year of research, public consultation and design development by Cork-based interpretive designers JANVS who worked closely with the council, academic specialists, and former residents to create a visitor experience that interprets fully the island’s complex and fascinating history.

Hadley and their creative specialists, including scenic artists, media producers and installation specialists, will now combine traditional heritage interpretation techniques with graphics, scenic works, audio tours, dramatic films, exploractives and smartphone apps to bring the visitor experience vision to life.

The interpretive centre will focus on the island’s military and penal history, the enforced transportation of its inmates, and the social history of its residents.

Spike Island

The contract marks a major milestone in delivering the first phase of the €5.5m Fortress Spike Island development which is being funded by both the county council and Fáilte Ireland.

The overall aim of the entire project is to develop the island and its buildings into a world class visitor attraction, and to link it to set of projects covering the defence architecture of Cork city and the wider harbour area.

Spike Island was handed over to the council by the Department of Justice in July 2010 to facilitate its redevelopment as a tourist attraction.

The council identified 14 key projects to kick-start the first phase of development, including the provision of a pontoon and pier upgrades, the development of a new gun park and military exhibition, the upgrade and extension of a café, the upgrade of a heating system in the former prison’s B block, the development of access to three bastions and to two gun bastions, the refurbishment of the old gaol and shell store, the development of interpretive panels, signage, lighting, and the development of a mobile app called Virtual Spike.

Cumnor Construction Ltd started work last August on the conservation and infrastructural development on the island.

Marine Transport Ltd will provide a passenger ferry service from Cobh to Spike Island for this summer season.

The 104-acre Spike Island occupies a key position in lower Cork Harbour. It has, over the course its history, hosted a monastery, a military fortress and prisons. Its redevelopment as a tourist attraction is one of the most ambitious tourism projects of its kind in Ireland.