View of the clubhouse that needs refurbishment Photo by Gary Burke
By Kathrin Kobus
Two pieces of good news from the Ringsend and Irishtown Community centre: Firstly, the long -overdue refurbishment got underway on Monday 28th January.
Secondly, no services will have to be suspended. A plan B regarding locations for the various clubs and groups using the rooms at RICC is in place.
Lorraine Barry, manager at the community centre, confirmed to NewsFour: “We have contingency plans in place so that no groups will have their activities cancelled. We worked to find alternatives for everybody, the last will have been finalised now at the beginning of February.”
The phone number to contact the centre will stay the same while the construction work goes on around it. The existing building was urgently in need of more than a lick of paint here and there.
“It had to be done,” said Lorraine, “The building has been here since 1989. Now this time around we finally got the money via the community gains fund from Covanta.”
In total, €1.4 million is being invested for works to replace all windows, external stairs, flooring, rearranging the room partitions and more.
A number of locals have dropped by already to check out the drawn-up plans for the refurbishment, which are on display in the reception. For the next six months, the entrance to the building will be ‘mobile’ due to the work carried out through spring and early summer.
“The works should be completed within half a year. So we hope to open again with a ribbon cutting by the end of July,” said Lorraine.
NewsFour will be there when the moment arrives.
