Abbey to be redeveloped on current site

The Abbey Theatre is to be redeveloped on its current site, Arts Minister Sile de Valera has announced.

It is to be redeveloped in a public-private partnership, the Minister said.

The theatre celebrates its centenary in 2004 and it is not known whether the building work will be finished by then.

The last time the theatre had an overhaul was in 1966.

The building was designed by Michael Scott and Partners.

Containing two theatres, the main auditorium which is the Abbey Theatre, and the studio space called the Peacock Theatre, the building is four stories high.