Sports Campus funding letter outstanding
The local authority is compiling a comprehensive “consultant brief” to seek tenders, with a view to appointing a design team to oversee and manage the brief.
Cavan County Council is still awaiting a letter guaranteeing funds of €837,680 to progress plans for the proposed new Regional Sports Campus in Cavan Town.
The grant, awarded from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF), is earmarked for the design phase of the project, which will be developed on lands adjoining Kingspan Breffni Park, and in partnership with Cavan GAA and the Royal School, Cavan.
The local authority is compiling a comprehensive “consultant brief” to seek tenders, with a view to appointing a design team to oversee and manage the brief.
Ultimately, the new state-of-the-art campus could cost in the region of €30 million to deliver.
The proposed campus will encompass both indoor and outdoor facilities in one location, including a synthetic pitch surface suitable for a range of sports and 50-station gymnasium.
It will also feature a 400m, competition standard, eight-lane athletics track, as well as a multi-sport floodlit 3G pitch.
The long-term vision for the site also incorporates a new 25m six-lane swimming, plus secondary pool.
The project amalgamates a collective vision shared with Cavan GAA, who have long harboured plans to add an additional three grass pitches adjacent to Breffni Park.
“We're still awaiting the letter of offer from the department,” confirmed Director of Services, Brendan Jennings. “Until that happens we can't do any more. Unfortunately we don't know [when it might arrive], Covid has had an impact, delayed a lot of things around the country, but hopefully soon.”
Separately, the Council is pleased with progress to date on developing a Masterplan for the Abbeylands area of Cavan Town.
Mr Jennings says “private” buyout from local landowners is crucial to move to the next phase.
A recent public consultation generated plenty of positive feedback from locals, and the Council has applied for funding worth €19M for the project.
The local authority currently owns the Abbeylands site, townhall, and also recently purchased the old McIntyres site on Abbey Street. It is in negotiations with other local landowners.
“It is an excellent project. It ticks a lot of boxes in terms of what we're trying to achieve though urban regeneration. We'd be hopeful of a positive outcome from our application, possibly towards the end of last year, and we're keenly aware that this is a project a lot of people are interested in seeing come to fruition. Notwithstanding our application, we continue to engage with stakeholder, local landowners... We need private buy-in as well, it is critical for this plan if we are to see it succeed.”