New Cork City Library may not open 'for three years'

The former Beamish & Crawford brewery's Counting House on South Main St was announced last month as the new location for its library HQ

The Counting House, part of the former Beamish & Crawford brewery on South Main St in Cork, has been chosen as the new headquarters of Cork City Library, currently located on Grand Parade..  File picture: Larry Cummins

No timeline is currently available for the new library due in Cork City, but there are concerns it will not open for three years.

Cork City Council announced last month that it had bought the Counting House complex on South Main St for €35m, excluding Vat, from JPDC Ltd, part of the BAM Contractors Limited Group in Ireland.

The building will be used for the development of a library to replace the one on Grand Parade, after being chosen over several options including a new build facility and the renovation of the current building.

At Monday’s meeting of Cork City Council, Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor asked for a timeline for completion of the library and all expected stages to that process.

The council’s assistant chief executive, Brian Geaney, said that the Counting House building was formally acquired on May 11, and the council is “now in the process of procuring the necessary multi-disciplinary design teams required to deliver the library project”.

“Key milestone dates for the project will be identified as part of the project design and delivery process, in conjunction with the project team, with the relevant details and timelines communicated to councillors when available,” he said.

These milestones will include Part 8 planning; construction/fit-out procurement; construction delivery; and library opening.

Ms O’Connor asked when a timeline will be available. She said: “I’ve heard on the grapevine that we might be looking at three years.”

Mr Geaney said: “Three years sounds like a long time, but it is a major undertaking and a major project. It will be developed as quickly as possible. As we’ve seen from other big infrastructure projects, the last thing this project needs is a false timeline.”

He said more information would be provided once it was available. 

Afterwards, Ms O’Connor said: “I asked the question on everyone’s lips. The response indicates that there is no timeline as yet. 

"We’ve now spent a really large amount of money to purchase a building for the new library, and one of the justifications for that expenditure was that this library will be delivered much quicker than if we were to build a new building.”