TUS announces major Athlone campus growth as part of €750m masterplan
The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) has today announced a series of major developments being proposed at its Athlone campus as part of a €750 million masterplan.
The TUS Campus Development Masterplan has been developed to steer the technological university's growth over the next fourteen years, between now and 2040.
The plan outlines how, in Athlone, the TUS campus will "grow as a research and innovation centre".
This is due to be achieved by continuing to develop the Athlone campus "as a centre for research and postgraduate activity, including a University Commons student learning and social space, dedicated postgraduate and research facilities, a new library, and expansion of Nursing, Health Science and apprenticeship facilities"
Other significant works being planned by TUS in Athlone include an extension of its International Arena sports complex, a Midlands Technology Centre for research and enterprise collaboration, upgraded public spaces, and the regeneration of the derelict former Athlone RTC site on Northgate Street as a digital hub in the town centre.
TUS said the masterplan also ensures the Athlone campus "can support wider sustainability ambitions for the Midlands region", including accommodating proposals such as developer Sean Mulryan's Green City concept for Athlone should this "progress through the appropriate planning and policy processes".
The technological university said some projects listed in the Campus Development Masterplan were already progressing, such as an Applied Science and Information Technology building on its Moylish campus, while others, including proposed library expansions and refurbishments, were longer-term ambitions.
The cumulative value of developments outlined in the Masterplan is approximately €750 million, with financing subject to detailed design, partnerships and national capital approvals.
The Masterplan prepares TUS for projected population growth and rising demand for higher education. It seeks to help ensure more people can study locally in modern facilities, while supporting regional employment and enterprise.
Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS, said: "This masterplan is a statement of intent, a blueprint for growth from now towards the middle of the 21st century.
"The initiatives contained within this plan will enable progress in research, teaching, learning and campus life, while facilitating sustainable growth in student numbers and embodying our values.
"This plan is not just about buildings and facilities; it is ultimately about the lives of those who will benefit from these developments — our future students, staff and graduates, and the communities we will continue to serve," said Professor Cunnane.
Josephine Feehily, Chair of the TUS Governing Body, said: “This masterplan is, ultimately, an investment in the future of our students and our region.
"It looks with confidence to what we can achieve together over the next 15 years.
"Visionary developments are being advanced which have the potential to have transformative impacts on TUS, namely the proposals for Athlone to be a sustainable Green City by 2040, with a much-enlarged Technological University at its heart, and the plans by Limerick Twenty Thirty for Cleeves Riverside Quarter."