A proposal to build an Arts, Trade and Commerce Centre in Limerick will be explored at a meeting in Limerick this morning. The meeting of arts representatives, business interests and local authority personnel will be chaired by RT╔ broadcaster and Limerick man, Mr David Hanley.
It follows the rejection by the Department of Arts, Culture, Gaeltacht and the Islands of a request to provide £10 million of Access funds for a proposed new £14 million Belltable Arts Centre to replace the premises on O'Connell Street.
"While we are disappointed we were not successful, we appreciate that funding at that time was limited," Mr Brendan Keating, city manager, said.
The project to have a 350 seater theatre built on Arthur's Quay Park formed part of the city's application to be European City of Culture, which was also unsuccessful.
But Mr Keating said Limerick needed such a centre to strengthen its arts and tourist attractions. "It is a fundamental ingredient that is lacking today," he said.
The co-operation which had gone into the preparation of the "city of culture" application had been useful, he added, in bringing the different interests of the city together.
A different design will now be drawn up to incorporate the different needs of the arts and business community. Mr David O'Mahony, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal for the Arts, Trade and Commerce Centre was part of a wider plan to give a facelift to the city centre and engender a sense of civic pride.
It would be a three to five-year, 10 to 20-year project costing up to £20 million.
There would be economies from having a common management and shared facilities such as a restaurant.
"Limerick does not have a heart. It has very good retail and commercial and social environment but it does not have anything to pull it all together." He said a vibrant focal point in the city would make it more attractive for outside investment.
"It is not all capital allowances and major incentives. Very often, it is the social environment and quality of life issues that are most important."
The director of the Belltable Theatre, Ms Liz Culloty, added that there were examples of this kind of venture in Britain. In Dublin, the Temple Bar project had been a successful collaboration between the arts and business communities.
"The arts is a business and people tend to forget that. We are part of the business community. At the moment we envisage a shared physical building and a complex of facilities by the riverside."
The lease on the current Belltable premises is due to expire in 12 months.