Kilkenny County Council has approved plans to transform the old squash court at the Abbey Quarter into a new cultural hub, despite some strong criticism.
The €665,000 development is 75% funded by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.
And while the lower level of the space includes rehearsal rooms and dressing areas, alongside a kitchen and toilets, concerns were raised about its lack of upstairs accessibility for people with mobility issues.
Councillor Maria Dollard criticised the exclusion, while Councillor David Fitzgerald questioned the decision to remove the squash facility.
Speaking to KCLR News, Cllr. Fitzgerald expressed his opposition to the site chosen.
“I fully support the idea of a cultural hub, but I had raised a number of years ago the possibility that the squash court could be recommissioned as a squash court, as we have a squash club in Kilkenny, who don’t have a home at this point in time.”
He continued by stating that “It would also create a sporting facility on the Abbey Quarter, in my view, the area beside the Watergate Theatre, which is currently a vacant site, that’s where we should have built a cultural quarter.”
