Work to start on civil defence base and council archive in Roscommon
Work is due to begin this month on the construction of a new €2.6 million civil defence headquarters and county council archive facility in Roscommon town.
Contracts for the development, which will be located at at Ballybroghan Business Park, Roscommon, were signed in Aras an Chontae on Tuesday last, July 25.
In a statement, Roscommon County Council said construction was likely to start in late August and the building was expected to be completed by May or June of 2024.
The new build has been designed by Collins Boyd Engineering Services, Roscommon, with Coolsivna Construction Group Ltd from Mountbellew hired for the construction of the facility.
The coucil said the development would provide Roscommon Civil Defence volunteers and staff with "a modern, sustainable building which will have excellent administrative, communications, training, welfare and storage facilities".
The project is due to comprise four main elements. The building will provide a state-of-the-art training, administrative and welfare facilities for Roscommon Civil Defence staff and volunteers as well as providing a large appliance bay or garage for Civil Defence volunteers.
The new building will also facilitate a greater capacity for Civil Defence members to engage in all-weather training and storage of specialised Civil Defence vehicles. In addition, the new build will provide a large secure training yard and covered boat storage facility.
Separately, the facility will also provide a 321 square metre climate controlled Roscommon County Council archive facility, which will have separate access. The building is designed to be energy efficient and accessible to all.
Following the signing of contracts, council chief executive Shane Tiernan said he was excited work on the construction of the facility would be commencing shortly.
"This new building will provide the essential supports and services required by our valued and important civil defence members. The building will also provide a valuable archival space for council correspondence and materials which will be stored in a modern, accessible and efficient manner," he said.
"It will be a modern, future-proofed facility to allow our staff, particularly our civil defence members, to avail of resources to carry out their function to the highest professional standards."
Civil defence officer Claire Keane said the signing of the contract documents represented a momentous day for her members.
"We are delighted to see the commencement of the process to construct our brand new headquarters. Our highly skilled members will now have even greater resources to carry out their role," she said.
"Civil defence provides a valuable and professional service, providing back-up support to emergency services as well as highly skilled support at public events and activities,” she said.
"We are excited by the commencement of building works by Coolsivna Construction Ltd. from Mountbellew. Collins Boyd Engineering Services have prepared the designs of the new building enabling us to provide a more enhanced service to members of the community in Roscommon," Ms Keane concluded.