Mallow Town Hall will be developed as an Arts & Cultural Centre which would include a theatre, rehearsal rooms, gallery, tourist office, and a space for a range of educational, civic & cultural uses.
The announcement of specific projects under the ERDF Designated Urban Centres Grant Scheme 2014 – 2020 was made by Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly along with Ministers Paudie Coffey, Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphries on Tuesday.
Pictured at the announcement of the European Regional Development Fund Designated Urban Centre Grant Scheme in Dublin this week where Mallow Town Hall is to undergo a €2m refurbishment were Tom Stritch, Director of Services, Cork County Council, Minister for Tourism Paschal Donohoe & Mayor of County Cork Cllr John Paul O’Shea.
The scheme, which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and local authorities, was launched by Minister for State with responsibility for Planning Mr. Paudie Coffey, TD in July 2015. €26m is to be allocated specifically to support the Designated Urban Centre Grant Scheme within the 13 counties in the Southern & Eastern Regional area (Cork, Kerry, Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wicklow, Kildare, Dublin & Meath). This funding when co-financed by local authorities will result in an overall investment of €52m in designated urban centres in these 13 counties over the next three years, including the North Cork town of Mallow.
Speaking in advance of the announcement of the Designated Urban Centre Grant Scheme, Mayor of County Cork Cllr. John Paul O’ Shea said “This is an ideal opportunity for the town of Mallow to finally benefit financially from its designation as a Hub town. The town has not got a single euro since it was designated as a Hub town back in 2002. In fact, it has been prevented from accessing other funding avenues such as Leader funding due to its Hub status losing out on many development opportunities”.
Mayor O’ Shea added “The town of Mallow will benefit by up to €2m from this new grant scheme. The six members of the Kanturk/Mallow Municipal District and the executive of Cork County Council along with the business and community sector in Mallow have been working extremely hard over the recent months in identifying key projects to submit for funding as part of this grant scheme”.
Mayor O’ Shea concluded by saying “I hope we can at least get one if not two of these projects funded as part of this scheme. Cork County Council is ready to advance these works and have confirmed their intention to co-fund any allocation received by this scheme. This is a very exciting time for Mallow and I hope on Tuesday afternoon, we can report some good news for Mallow”.
