Builder sought for next step in Tipperary Town regeneration project
Plans for the Dan Breen House development have reached the next step
Tipperary County Council are in the process of seeking a building developer to tackle the refurbishment of Dan Breen House in Tipperary Town, a project which got council approval back in March 2023 to be turned into a youth and further education training centre.
The project is is intended to be a ‘flagship development as part of a wider effort to revitalise Tipperary Town…which has been suffering decline for some time with high building vacancy, high unemployment...and other socioeconomic issues’ according to architects Robin Lee Architecture, who were appointed to redesign the building.
The building is thought to have been built in 1841 originally for the rector of St Mary’s Church. In the 1980s it was redeveloped as civic offices and a library, but was vacant for well over a decade and the building has in that time deteriorated badly.
Plans for the building are to provide not only a youth service, but an ‘education and training hub providing high quality, fit-for-purpose multi-functional spaces’.
Robin Lee say the grounds of the former rectory will be developed to reinstate a garden, while a new courtyard is proposed to create a secure and private outdoor space for training and educational purposes.
Funding of almost €8 million was secured for the scheme, as well as regeneration work in the wider Tipperary Town area, in May 2024. The council will match this funding with €1,990,000 from its own coffers. The tender was advertised on Wednesday June 3, and would-be contractors have a month to apply to work on the project.
The Dan Breen project is being undertaken in partnership with Youth Work Ireland Tipperary and Tipperary Education and Training Board. Other planned works in the town are the transformation of the former courthouse and bridewell on Michael Street into a day service location for adults with intellectual disabilities in partnership with MooreHaven Centre.