A near ten-year campaign during which time over €300,000 was generated through voluntary means culminated on Saturday when the tape was cut to officially open the new extension, the Noone Building, to Gort Community School.
Because the Noone Building focuses on the sporting and musical life of the school, on hand to complete the formalities were Galway hurling board chairman Joe Byrne from Kinvara, a son for former board of management chairperson, the late Toddie Byrne, and singer Sean Keane from Caherlistrane, whose two daughters are past pupils of the school and whose wife Virginia taught at the school until her untimely death earlier this year.
The extension was called after the late Dr Francis Noone, a local doctor from Castletown, who generously bequeathed the sum of €100,000 to the board of management which part funded the new extension, which incorporates a music room, career guidance suite, oratory and dressing rooms.
School principal, Denis Corry explained the background to the school development, which was first mooted in 2001 when a letter was sent to the planning officer in the Department of Education & Science.
“That letter outlined the difficulties that our students were encountering on a daily basis for physical education activities and general team sports and events. We did and still have the use of the nearby Gort Community Centre and while it provides an excellent indoor hall area and upstairs area for our canteen, the changing facilities were totally inadequate to meet the needs of a large second level school.
“At that point we set about doing some fundraising to create a fund of money that could be used to build new dressing rooms at some point in the future. We benefited from having then and still a very active and hardworking parents’ association as well as a staff that was eager to put its collective shoulder to the wheel.
“We had raffles, fashion shows, dog nights and any type of fundraising event which could generate the much needed finance. In 2005, the Department of Education & Science approved the plan but made it clear that the cost of the project would have to be borne by the board of management,” he recalled.
By 2006, the board of management had raised €150,000 when the Department of Education & Science announced that Gort was to get a new extension anyway, which would be fully funded by the State. This extension included the provision of the much-needed dressing rooms.
At the time the Department of Education & Science was preparing Gort Community School to take in the influx of new students because nearby Seamount College in Kinvara was supposedly closing down.
Within nine months, all had changed again and the new fully paid for extension to Gort Community School was off the table as Seamount College had won a reprieve.
“We had earlier been given the green light to proceed on our own. We received a much-needed boost when the late Dr Francis Noone generously bequeathed €100,000 to the board of management that subsequently decided that this gift would go towards the funding of the new extension. It was both appropriate and opportune to do so. By way of acknowledgement, the board decided to call the new extension, The Noone Building,” Mr Corry outlined.
By now, the board had decided to add a second floor as the priority was to meet the needs of the school. Therefore, a large new music room was added to cater for a growing music department along with a career guidance suite and a new oratory.
This provision was added to the four dressing rooms (two girls, two boys), four single unit changing areas (two coaches, one referee, one disabled use), and the caretaking storeroom and gear room all found on the ground floor. A ball wall for hurling and camogie practice was built to the rear of the building.
Local company Grealish Glynn Associates was retained by the Board for its professional expertise, advice and direction. The job went to tender in November 2009 and 13 local companies were invited to respond. Seven companies submitted their prices and the successful candidate and lowest respondent was Mr. Martin Smyth, Faha, Caher, Clare whose price was €485,000.
The site preparations began during the February mid term break, culminating with the official opening at the weekend.
After the opening ceremony, two representative teams played a challenge hurling match. All the team members were past pupils who have gone on to represent their county teams, Galway or Clare at minor, U-21 or senior level.
In the final analysis, €305,000 was generated through voluntary means, including the generous donation of €100,000 from Dr Francis Noone. The Department of Education & Science picked up the outstanding balance.
“The Noone Building will provide excellent facilities for our young people into the future and our school community of teachers and parents, past pupils and present students have certainly played their part in bringing this project to fruition. They can all be justifiably proud of this achievement,” Mr Corry added.