HURLING and football supporters, music lovers and those who want Cork to have an international-class sports stadium are beginning to get excited about what is unfolding at Páirc Ui Chaoimh.
Following months and months of the public wondering about the progress, the ambitious project to restore Cork’s premier sports stadium to a standard considered to be of international calibre is beginning to really take shape.
Work in progress on the new covered stand on the Marina side at Pairc Ui Chaoimh
Picture: Eddie O’Hare
Evening Echo photographer Eddie O’Hare captured the latest this week, showing rapid progress being made on one of the new covered stands, which is at the Marina side of the stadium.
The new stadium will be back among the country’s elite when completed, hosting Munster finals and concerts that bring the city to a level of excitement that cannot be really described unless you are part of it. The redeveloped Páirc Ui Chaoimh will also be considered as part of Ireland’s bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup, an indication of the quality of the finished Cork GAA jewel.
At a cost of €78m, the redevelopment is one of the biggest construction projects in Cork for years.
Most of the work so far had been in tearing down the existing stands and preparing the grounds for construction. The government has committed €30m towards funding.
The plan is to have the project finished by 2017, in time to host one of the Munster finals. The new stadium will include state-of-the-art facilities for players, fans, and staff, with restaurants, conference facilities, a new press box, museum, and capacity increased to 45,000.
Legendary nights like the ones that transfixed Cork in the 1980s and 1990s will also be back — who can forget the magic in the air when Michael Jackson played two unforgettable nights in August 1988?
Work in progress on the new covered stand on the Marina side at Pairc Ui Chaoimh
Picture: Eddie O’Hare
Similarly, the whole city went bananas when the likes of U2 and Oasis came to town. Lest we forget how magic those Páirc Ui Chaoimh were, hark back to a mere three years ago this month when The Boss himself won the hearts of Leesiders.
The development of the Páirc will coincide with the surrounding area being significantly transformed in the coming years as part of the City Council’s plan to create a ‘tech corridor’ connecting key zones with concentrations of employment and population such as City Gate and Mahon to the city centre.
The corridor which will run along Monahan Road, close to Páirc Ui Chaoimh, will be a strategic route for investment that will encourage a natural geographical flow of tech businesses with the creation of hundreds of jobs over time, according to city council officials.
The project has not been without its critics. With Cork hurling and football in the doldrums, many have questioned aloud why money is being spent on a stadium when more should be invested into developing the actual games of hurling and football.
Residents in the area, through the voice of the Save Marina Park group, believe that the prolonged demolition and construction period, with dust, noise and disturbance was a breach of good faith too far by the powers-that-be and that their views were not sufficiently considered.
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