Mayor suggests County Council should move HQ out of city

The Mayor of Galway City has urged Galway County Council to sell its headquarters to the city’s local authority and move out to a more rural location such as Athenry.

As well as securing a wad of cash which would help alleviate the strapped coffers of the County Council, the deal would free up a prime piece of real estate so that Galway City Council could build cultural amenities such as a municipal library.

City Mayor and Fine Gael Councillor Pearce Flannery told this week’s City Council meeting that County Hall was an iconic building in the middle of the city on a large site taken up with surface car parking.

“They could get a financial return out of it and build a new building in the county. The Prospect Hill building should be transferred to Galway City Council.”

Athenry was touted as a possible central location which would suit a custom-built headquarters for the local authority.

Several councillors spoke about the poor financial situation facing Galway County Council, which this year has a budget of €112 million – down from €160m in 2008.

During a debate about a possible amalgamation between the two councils, Fine Gael Cllr Frank Fahy said Galway City Council’s investment in the arts in the city would not win favour among country colleagues.

“The 18 of us would be outvoted by the county. You’d find it would be spent on roads in Portumna and Ballinasloe,” he opined.

The city courthouse in Woodquay, which is owned by Galway County Council, is another building which would merit consideration as a site for cultural use.

The Courts Service announced last year they were on the hunt for a new site as they had outgrown the current building and needed to double the number of courtrooms to accommodate all sittings. They had already scouted a number of sites without success. They needed one as near as possible to the city centre with ample parking and access to public transport.

The discussion among councillors about sites followed the confirmation by Galway City Council CEO Brendan McGrath that a previous plan to raze the Black Box to the ground, replacing it with an iconic cultural centre and municipal library – incorporating the current Dyke Road car park’s 535 spaces – by 2020 has been shelved pending a more thorough investigation.

A team of consultants will be appointed to assess the viability of a much bigger development involving commercial partners. They will ascertain whether the new cultural space should even be located on the Dyke Road, or is better suited to a site owned by a developer or public body as part of a land-swap.

A dozen submissions of interest had been sent to the City Council in relation to the four-acre site – all of them offering different visions for the land which is outside the architectural conservation area but boasts prominent views over the river and city.