Delayed Kilkee library works back on track

ON Wednesday, Clare County Council awarded a €1 million contract to L&M Keating Ltd, Kilmihil, to carry out a refurbishment and extension to the Sweeney Memorial Library in Kilkee.
The work will be carried out to a design by Denis Byrne Architects in Dublin. The council initially made this decision public last December. The project has already been significantly delayed. 
At the July 2010 meeting of Kilrush Electoral Area county councillors, director of services Nora Kaye acknowledged the refurbishment work was behind schedule even at that stage.
“It appears to be about a month behind schedule at the moment, but hopefully all will go well for a start later in the year,” Ms Kaye explained. She said she had spoken to project architect, Ruth Hurley on the issue.
“I’m disappointed to hear that there’s a delay. In these times I thought that we should be ahead of things. But if there’s a delay there’s a delay, although I would encourage that we get it going as quickly as possible,” Kilkee Fianna Fáil county councillor Pat Keane commented at the meeting 10 months ago.
“It’s very important that we have the work commenced before the winter comes in. If you go into the winter time and don’t get the work done there could be a delay of up to six or eight months after that,” he warned at the time.
At the March 2010 meeting of the local area councillors, county librarian Helen Walsh predicted that the new library should be open in the first half of 2011.
She told the meeting that €850,000 of funding had been sourced from the Department of Arts and a private investment fund. She added there had been some difficulty for the council in establishing full ownership of the library.
The refurbishment scheme comprises additional library space, theatre and exhibition space and multifunction spaces.
Construction work on the development is now expected to get underway in the coming weeks and be completed by the end of this year. During the development period the library will be temporarily relocated to the Kilkee Community Centre. 
The brief for the project has been developed in conjunction and consultation with many groups, including Clare County Library, Clare Arts Office, Clare County Council, Kilkee Town councillors, area county councillors, Kilkee Civic Trust, along with drama and community group representatives from the Kilkee area. The project is being funded through a combination of Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Commissioners for Charitable Trusts and Clare County Council sources.
“As a West Clare councillor I am delighted to see that work will shortly commence on one of the biggest infrastructure projects to get underway in the area in recent years.  The completed project will greatly enhance the social infrastructure of the area and will help the future development of Kilkee and its environs,” Mayor of Clare Councillor Christy Curtin said.
“The issue with the existing building as it stands is the struggle to address modern accessibility requirements, efficient heating, advanced stage technology and the expanding functions of the library within the community.  The proposal aims to improve the standard and range of independent functions within the building, allowing for different activities to occur independently,” Bernadette Kinsella, director of services, Clare County Council commented.
“The primary changes to the internal layout are the demolition of the existing toilet block to the front of the building and the separation of library and theatre functions within the existing building. The new side extension will contain the new floor space and gallery, the provision of lift access to the upper level, the new entrance foyer and the upgrade of existing electrical and heating systems,” Ms Kinsella added.