Work on Cork's €53m events centre to start after Easter

Demolition work on the site of Cork’s proposed €53m events and conference centre is expected to begin after Easter.

Teams of demolition experts have visited the former Beamish and Crawford brewery site on South Main St in recent weeks, following the pre-general election sod- turning ceremony on February 13.

They are now finalising detailed plans for site clearance work which will also facilitate an extensive archaeological survey on the site at the heart of the city’s Viking origins.

The Irish Examiner has also learned that detailed design work on the interior of the 6,000-seat multi-function venue is also under way.

This work will ensure that the venue’s acoustic characteristics, and the configuration of its stage and seats, will be flexible enough to convert quickly from musical or ballet mode to rock concert or exhibition mode.

A source close to the process said once the venue is complete, it will be one of the most flexible venues of its kind in the country — a blend of Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and the 3Arena.

The 2,111-seat Bórd Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin’s docklands was devised in 1992 at a time when a restricted amount of large-scale theatre productions such as Cats, Bolshoi Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, and Mamma Mia were being staged at the 3Arena.

Mike Adamson, the CEO of global entertainment giant, Live Nation Ireland, which manages the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and which will also manage the Cork venue being built by BAM, said he was being constantly approached by the producers of ballet, opera, drama and musicals about staging productions in Dublin, and that it became obvious that the demand for theatre productions surpassed the weeks available in any given year at 3Arena.

The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre hosted its first performance on March 18, 2010 with the Russian State Ballet featuring Bolshoi stars performing Swan Lake. The venue now entertains half a million patrons every year.

Speaking at the sod-turning at the Cork events centre last month, Mr Adamsom said he expects it will host between 170 and 200 performances a year, including concerts, shows, and conventions, attracting up to 500,000 patrons a year.

He said it will provide employment for up to 30 full-time staff, with employment figures reaching up to 300 for large-scale performances.

“This will have a great economic impact on Cork, on the hotels particularly. We estimated that benefit to be in the region of €15m per annum,” he said.

It is hoped the Cork venue will be built and hosting its first event within two years.