Major renovation works completed at Cork theatre and library damaged by devastating fire in 2016 

MACROOM’S Briery Gap Theatre and Library, which was badly damaged in a devastating fire in 2016, has been renovated at a cost of almost €6m and this week the key to the radically transformed building was handed back to Cork County Council by the builders.

The work began on the cultural centre on the town’s Main Street in January 2022 and this week’s key handover marked a major milestone in the return of the facility to full use, just days after locals enjoyed a major open-air party in the town as local performer, Bambie Thug, earned Ireland’s best finish since 2000 at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.

While the first phase involved rebuilding and and renovation, phase two of the work involves the fit out of the library, which had been relocated to a former shop since 2016, and theatre and is due to commence in the coming weeks. A ‘soft opening’ is planned in late June or early July but the official re-opening will be in late August or early September. The project has been funded by grants from the Department of Community and Rural Development, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media and involved substantial funding from Cork County Council.

The chairman of Macroom Municipal District Council, Ted Lucey, an elected member for Fine Gael, said there had been ‘much excitement and anticipation as this building project took shape’. “It’s return to active use for the people of Macroom is very much welcomed by all with great plans for its future now beginning to take shape,” said the councillor, who was deputizing for County Mayor, Frank O’Flynn at the handover event.

Cork County Council chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan said the completion of what she described as a ‘high quality, landmark building’ marked a crucial step in the authority’s plan for the revitalisation of Macroom.

The Briery Gap reconstruction project was designed and led by the Architects Department of Cork County Council together with their team of consultants; Consulting Engineers Horgan Lynch and EDC, ASM Group, CK Fire and Theatre Plan and Cumnor Construction. The project was steered to completion by the Council’s Design and Project Team.