The CEO of Cork City Council has said she is confident work will commence shortly on the building of a €50m events centre on the site of the former Beamish and Crawford brewery in the city.
Ann Doherty says she expects the project will get underway before the end of the year. Ms Doherty stresses that a "very productive" meeting took place last week between the developers and the concert venue operators Live Nation.
“Our ambition is that we would break ground on the project before the end of the year and I am confident that will happen.”
Last year the Heineken BAM consortium won the battle to head the project ahead of developer Owen O'Callaghan.
The €50m 6,000-seat project – the centre piece of the massive €150m Brewery Quarter regeneration of the former brewery site – emerged ahead of the other proposed site at Albert Quay.
The Government has made a commitment to provide €20m in funding towards Cork’s new event centre.
The project will provide 400 jobs over five years, and will support up to 900 direct jobs, with 300 indirect jobs upon completion.
Minister for Agriculture, Food, the Marine and Defence, Mr Simon Coveney TD says the Government fully backs the project.
“The State is committing €20m to the events centre in Cork. €12 million from national Government and €8 million from Cork City Council. That is a done deal. It has been agreed. There was a competition on the back of that agreement which BAM and Heineken won to build the events centre to build it on the Beamish and Crawford site.”
The event centre will host a range of events including concerts, musicals, variety shows and family shows, sports events, cultural events, conventions, conferences, exhibitions, tradeshows and festivals.
Apart from a 6,000 capacity venue, Heineken Ireland/BAM’s plans include a 360-degree viewing tower, a tourist centre in the former brewery’s Counting House, a seven-screen cinema complex, artists’ studios, retail units, student accommodation and offices.
The report to the chief executive Ann Doherty from the steering group on the bidding process said that the development of a multifunctional event centre has been an objective of Cork City Council since the 1990s.