Scrutiny as Crawford revamp to cost treble initial estimates

A tripling of projected costs for the Crawford Art Gallery’s refurbishment are down to inflation in construction prices as well as problems with the building, discovered after the detailed design phase.

Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the minister for culture, communications and sport in the Dáil why the projected costs of the refurbishment of the gallery were calculated at over three times the original 2020 estimate of €28m.

The minister, Patrick O’Donovan, said: “The original estimate at preliminary business case stage was arrived at in 2020, prior to the planning and design phase, and the project has changed substantially since then. There has also been considerable construction inflation of just under 40% since 2020.”.

He explained that in 2024, the project went out to tender and following the outcome of the tender process, the overall project budget estimate for the Crawford development is now €93.1m, including Vat. To date, €6.5m has been spent on investigative surveys, design costs, and the costs of decanting the art works and getting them into storage, with remaining capital costs of an estimated €86.6m.

Mr O’Donovan said the contractor is expected to be on site in early 2026 and the project will be completed in 2028. The gallery fit-out, commissioning, and reoccupation will follow, prior to opening.

Mr Ó Snodaigh questioned whether the project changed substantially “from that which was projected to cost €28m”. Mr O’Donovan said as well as inflation in the construction sector, the building is a city centre site and heritage building so “it is not straightforward”.

“As with all of these things, there are elements that come to light after the fact that would not necessarily have been to the fore until the detailed design was initiated.”

He agreed that “there is a significant cost differential” but insisted guidelines were adhered to.

Mr Ó Snodaigh said that he welcomed the decision to invest in the gallery, but “even a 40% increase in construction inflation would only bring the cost to €40m”.

The minister said once buildings are looked into in detail, “sometimes the depth of the problems associated with heritage buildings, in particular, is only discovered after the fact”