Christchurch and St Luke s Projects

Transcription

1 Christchurch and St Luke s Projects Christchurch In August 2009 Cork City Council applied for funding under the Urban Regeneration Sub Theme of the Gateways and Hub Challenge for the restoration of two former churches in the city. Christchurch situated in the city centre at South Main Street is a protected structure and is listed under the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (ref: 2051/4004) and is a recorded monument (ref RMP CO /3409). The City Council purchased the property in 1979 and the church housed the City Archives for a number of years. It had been vacant since In 2007 a design team was appointed for the production of a design proposal and subsequent construction contract for the restoration of Christchurch. An asbestos survey and subsequent asbestos removal took place in early In 2008 a preliminarily contract was awarded to O Shea Builders for opening works in the church to enable full investigation to take place prior to the main contract. Joseph lane and Sons Limited were awarded the contract and work commenced on site in December Work on site was concluded in early January 2011 and the refurbished organ was then also re-installed. The building is now managed by Agreement with the Triskel Arts Centre, as a new concert gallery and cinema space for the city. The keys were handed over to Triskel on the 16 th March 2011 to facilitate the official opening of the centre on April 15 th Further details of current events can be found on This project was co-funded by Cork City Council and EU Structural funds programme which is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Union. Cork City Council was awarded 2.18m under the NSS gateways & Hubs ERDF grant scheme towards the 4.8m refurbishment costs.

2 Christchurch during works

3 Christchurch on completion

4 Saint Luke s Church Saint Luke s Church is situated on the north side of the city and was used by the Church of Ireland for regular Sunday service until March 2005 and it has not been in use since. Cork City Council acquired the property in early The roof was in poor condition and it was affecting the inside of the property. Cork City Council needed to carry out repairs to make the building safe and to conserve it for further generation. In 2008 a design team was appointed to carry out emergency renovation works to the structure of Saint Luke s Church in advance of any plans to re-use the building. An asbestos survey and subsequent asbestos removal took place in October In 2009, a preliminarily contract was awarded to O Shea Builders for opening works in the Church to enable full investigation to take place. Contract Documents were then prepared for phase 2 and Joseph Lane and Sons Limited were awarded the contract. Work commenced on site in January 2010 and involved major repairs to the roof. Internally all leaking windows were repaired and the hall beneath the main body of the church was renovated to allow it used as office and gallery space, improved toilets facilities were put in and works now been completed. The building was very damp and once in use and dried out the main body of the church may need further re-plastering and painting. The building is managed by Tigh Filí on behalf of Cork City Council and it is due to open shortly. This project was co-funded by Cork City Council and EU Structural funds programme which is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Union. Cork City Council was awarded 0.62m under the NSS gateways & Hubs ERDF grant scheme towards the 1.4m refurbishment costs.

5 St Luke s Church during works

6 St Luke s Church on completion