Ambitious plans for €3m Castle revamp unveiled

The €3 million regeneration of Athlone Castle will focus the whole visitor experience on the 1691 Siege of Athlone which will be a "colourful, noisy, dusty, interactive exhibition" according to the architects behind the plan. However if the work does get underway this year, the castle will be closed for the entire summer, and will not reopen until December when the 800th anniversary will be marked. The Hoskins/Keogan/Lindsay Event Team presented the proposed regeneration plan to councillors at Monday's monthly town council meeting. The whole project will cost between €2.8 and €2.9 million and will now go for planning permission after councillors agreed on the proposals. "The castle will not open in the summer, It will not open during the festivals. It will be a building site," said Town Clerk John Walsh after Cllr Aengus O'Rourke (FF) asked would it be open for the many festivals and events taking place here during the summer. "It's disappointing but inevitable that the castle will be closed this summer," added Mayor Cllr Mark Cooney. Conservation architect John Keogan told councillors that the keep will become a big part of the exhibition route, containing an "immersive audio-visual experience" on the Siege of Athlone. "The exhibition journey aims to be a lively, engaging, interactive visitor experience," he said. The John McCormack display will get its own room as the final element of the tour. The armaments store, which will contain a day in the life of a soldier display, will be linked to the keep through a covered glass walkway, which will be clearly visible from the town bridge. The architects also intend to have disabled access to all of the exhibition and education areas. One of galleries will contain a glass box which will provide views of the river and town bridge. The existing glass structure near the keep will be demolished. Mr Keogan emphasised that there will be minimum intervention with regard to the existing historical buildings. "It's important to stress that proposals to demolish all fabric is that from a later period, such as the work done in 1991. Most of what we're talking about is a contemporary structure," he said. "The principal of conservation is that in conserving what's there you don't confuse by adding to it. The reasons for the insertions we've proposed, especially linking the keep to the armament building, is that there is a need to bring the keep into the story... It's very transparent, you will be able to see the stone work on the gable of the keep." He also said that there were plans to better illuminate the castle from the outside. County Manager Danny McLoughlin proposed that the project should go the planning permission stage, where it will be subject to the submissions, notifications and approvals required by the Planning Acts and National Monuments Acts. "It's important to re-establish the west side as the town's cultural and heritage area," he added. Cllr Paul Hogan (SF) asked the architects whether there would be a multi-lingual option in the visitor/interpretive centre, which would help to attract more tourists to the castle. Mr Keogan said that this was an option being "actively considered" but that it would be costly. Cllr Sheila Buckley Byrne (Ind) praised the plans and said the changes would make the castle a new place for those who have already visited. Cllr Kieran Molloy (FF) asked whether the council could write to the National Roads Authority requesting that roads signs directing tourists to the castle could be erected on the M6. John Walsh agreed that signage was an issue that needs to be looked at, but he said he had doubts as to whether it would get on the M6. It was noted that the OPW owned the perimeter wall around the castle and the council agreed to write and request that these walls be cleaned. The last refurbishment work in the castle was carried out in 1991 and councillors agreed that the visitor displays have gone stale in this digital and interactive age.