Consultants to look at municipal concert hall for Galway

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Work is set to begin within weeks on a feasibility study for a municipal concert hall in Galway City.

Already, locations such as Nuns Island and the Dyke Road – which are earmarked for major regeneration projects – have been suggested.

The Arts Council has provided funding to employ consultants to explore all aspects of a new building, which would include a performance hall, rehearsal rooms, offices and a café.

Music for Galway, the Galway Dance Project and Architecture at the Edge Festival collaborated to apply for funding from the Arts Council to employ consultants and they plan to invite tenders from companies to carry out the study in the next few weeks.

To fund the project, the group will explore partnerships with the likes of Galway City Council and NUI Galway.

Anna Lardi Fogarty, Executive Director of Music for Galway, said they had no idea how much such a venue would cost but it would be clearly beyond the realm of three small arts groups to achieve.

“We want the feasibility study to outline what size auditorium would be suitable for a town the size of Galway and the county, what size rehearsal rooms would work, how much would this cost. We want to explore whether we could partner with the Council, the likes of the University, the GMIT, the Arts Council, the Department of the Arts, to see how we can get it built and what needs to be in it to make it viable,” she explained.

Kings Place in London (pictured) and the Budapest Music Center in Hungary are examples of what could work in Galway.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.