Councillors approve €128k package to re-roof Cork City's Firkin Crane dance centre

The Dance Cork Firkin Crane board has secured €20,000 through its own resources while 'all available fundraising routes have been exhausted'

City councillors approved the funding at the May meeting of Cork City Council after they were told that without repairs to its leaking roof, there was a risk that the protected building in Shandon faced closure this winter for health and safety reasons. File picture: Denis Minihane

An emergency public funding package of almost €128,000 has been approved to help pay for the re-roofing of the Firkin Crane dance centre in Cork City and secure the building's future.

City councillors approved the funding at the May meeting of Cork City Council after they were told that without repairs to its leaking roof, there was a risk that the protected building in Shandon faced closure this winter for health and safety reasons.

Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan said the matter was being brought before councillors “with urgency” due to the time-sensitive nature of the works, which need to be conducted this summer.

In a detailed report to councillors, she said a report by heritage conservation specialists Southgate Associates recommends “repairs to the roof which although structurally sound is leaking badly due to failure of the roof membrane installed in 1985 and now well beyond its design life”.

Councillors were told that Dance Cork Firkin Crane (DCFC) believes that without immediate intervention there is a risk of closure, for health and safety reasons, during the winter with consequences for the many schools, artists, and community groups which rely on the space, as well as potentially lost income that could jeopardise the future of the organisation itself.

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The total estimated cost for the reroofing is €197,364, she said.

The DCFC board has secured €20,000 through its own resources with a further €50,000 the subject of a proposed capital funding application to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, for the maximum available amount.

But in March, the DCFC board made a formal request to council for the balance of €127,364.

City officials, Ms O'Sullivan said, have been engaging with the board and management of DCFC and are satisfied that “all available fundraising routes that can secure repairs by this summer have been exhausted” and that support from the city is necessary to expedite the repair and safeguard the building and its uses.

Officials have also recommended that DCFC increase its fundraising activities to support the repairs over the medium to long-term.

She recommended that council makes available a total contribution of €127,364, through a €50,000 capital grant to match the funding due to come from the department, and a €77,364 maximum interest free loan to be repaid over an agreed term, subject to a confirmed final quote for the works from a competitively procured contractor.

Fine Gael Cllr Des Cahill suggested a certain flexibility on the loan amount that council could release, once the final quotations are received.

The Firkin Crane building, which is owned by The Firkin Crane CLG, is a protected structure, designed in 1855 by Sir John Benson. It has served various purposes over the years, including as a butter market exchange. Refurbished in the 1990s, it became Ireland's first dance house.