New Abbey to cost €170m: ThePost.ie


TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2005/07/24 > New Abbey to cost €170m

New Abbey to cost €170m
Sunday, July 24, 2005 - By Niamh Connolly
The construction of the new Abbey Theatre, on a site close to the IFSC on George's Dock in Dublin, is expected to cost about €170 million, according to informed sources.

The Office of Public Works is shortly expected to make a formal recommendation on the docklands site, north of the Liffey, in its report to the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue.

The site has been offered to the state by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and is expected to cost between €150 million and €170 million.

The cabinet is in talks over how the project should be funded.

There is a strong view that a national cultural project on this scale should be funded by state capital. However, the option of a public private partnership is also open to the government.

It is not known what strategy O'Donoghue has adopted in the cabinet discussions.

The proposed site for the Abbey has been plagued by controversy over the past five years.

The alternative site for the Abbey at the Carlton site in O'Connell Street has become embroiled in legal difficulties surrounding a compulsory purchase of the site.

Its owner, property developer Joe O'Reilly, plans to convert the site into a shopping mall and residential accommodation. The Abbey board had previously stated that it favoured moving to a site at Grand Canal docks after Dublin Docklands offered it a free site, along with an annual subsidy of more than €600,000.

However, the Taoiseach reacted with “surprise'‘ and “disappointment'‘ to the announcement and described it as a u-turn and a serious mistake.

A proposal was later made to redevelop the existing site, but this was abandoned after it emerged that other buildings would have to be purchased at an unrealistic cost to facilitate the redevelopment.

Last year, the Department of Arts examined several locations, including the Department of Health headquarters, Hawkins House, near D'Olier Street.

It identified the Coláiste Mhuire school on Parnell Square as an option, but this was dropped after a deal for the purchase of an adjacent building, needed for the redevelopment of the theatre, collapsed.