by Kathy Masterson
THE Office of Public Works has spent close to one million euro over the last three years on refurbishing Sarsfield House, which is now due to be demolished under the Limerick 2030 plan.
Since 2011, approximately €900,000 was spent on work such as upgrades to lighting systems, the Limerick Post has learned.
A spokesperson for the OPW confirmed: “The Office of Public Works has, since 2011, carried out refurbishment and upgrade works to Sarsfield House valued at approximately €900,000. The bulk of this expenditure would be the atypical upgrade of key elements of infrastructure such as fire and emergency lighting systems.”
Under the Limerick 2030 plan, Revenue Commissioners staff will be transferred from Sarsfield House to the redeveloped Opera Centre.
Sarsfield House will then be demolished to make way for a new city park.
City councillor James Collins has questioned the logic of demolishing the building.
He told the Limerick Post: “It doesn’t make sense strategically – on the one hand we’re in the market to provide office space, and on the flipside we’re proposing to knock down offices. Could we use it for five or ten years until some other sites come on stream?
“The argument has been put forward that it’s not suitable for modern requirements and demands, but it’s in use at the moment. The OPW spent a million euro doing it up, so surely it would be cheaper to convert it to bring it up to a modern specification rather than to demolish it and turn it into an extension of Arthur’s Quay Park.”
The Fianna Fáil councillor continued: “We’re buying the Cleeves site and we’re buying the Hanging Gardens because there’s isn’t enough office space, and then we’re proposing to demolish office space in that part of the city.”
Cllr Collins noted that the lack of suitable office space in Limerick was “a major issue” and a possible barrier to investment and further employment in the city.
“The logic in how it’s (the demolition of Sarsfield House) being sold to us is that we need more people working in the city centre and that if the Revenue is operating in the Opera Centre then that will be a conduit for other private development to come in.
“But what we’re actually doing is proposing to move the Revenue Commissioners across to the Opera Centre, basically moving them across the street. So the net gain in the immediate term or the intermediate term isn’t going to be an increase in people working in the city, which was one of our stated aims,” he added.
Cllr Collins said that he is in favour of the rejuvenation of Limerick city centre, but warned that “the city council’s track record in capital projects is pretty poor”.
