The Department of Education and Science has confirmed it will sign the contract shortly for the new €60 million Cork School of Music with British construction firm Jarvis Projects Ltd. The school was first promised by the Government five years ago.
According to the Department spokesperson, a small number of issues remain to be finalised, but it is understood that construction - which has been sub-contracted by Jarvis to the Irish building firm Sisk - will begin in September and take two years to complete. Under the contract, Jarvis will equip and maintain the building for a period of 25 years at a cost to the Department of €8.2 million a year, after which it will revert to the State.
The Irish Times understands that Jarvis's parent company in the UK, Jarvis Construction, will meet its bank, Barclays, on Thursday to finalise the reorganisation of its £230 million debt, clearing the way for the signing of contracts. The contract is the largest of several public-private partnerships undertaken between the Department of Education and Jarvis.
Last month the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, briefed his Cabinet colleagues on the status of the project after it emerged that Jarvis was negotiating with its bank to reorganise its debt.
Its share price fell to 10 per cent of its value a year ago.
Mr Pat Gardiner, managing director, confirmed at the weekend that its parent company had overcome these difficulties.
"It's been a long and winding road, but it's great to finally see it coming to fruition. The plan is that work will commence this September with a completion date of September 2006. Sisk Construction will carry out the work for us and we're all ready to roll," he said.
"Obviously it's been a bit of a trying time for all of us. The situation in the UK has not been helpful, but I've tried to keep us here in Ireland as independent of the UK as I can, but the situation has been resolved now and we're just finalising a few details."
Mr Gardiner said that, given that the Government won't be paying any money for the school until it is completed, the cost of the work until September 2006 will be borne by Jarvis and its underwriting bank, Barclays, which is expected to approve the project this week.
"As I say, it's great to see it coming to fruition. The stresses that the School of Music have been under have been merciless. I'm as delighted for them as for ourselves that the project has finally been given the green light by the Government," he said.
Cork School of Music lecturer Mr Gerry Kelly, who organised the campaign among staff and teachers for the new building, welcomed the news.
"I'm absolutely over the moon. Work is going to commence on this amazing new building in September and, although completion won't be until September 2006, it's still going to contribute to the capital of culture because people will be able to see a new school of music being built."
Architect Mr Ralph Bingham of Murray O'Laoire Architects, the firm that designed the building, also expressed delight that work is due to begin shortly. He is confident, he said, that when completed, it will become a landmark building in Cork city centre.
Mr Bingham said the building would be five storeys high with a sixth-storey corner penthouse which would incorporate a library.
Using both limestone and sandstone cladding, the building will provide 12,000 square metres of space on a 3,000-square metre site on Union Quay.
It will incorporate specialist tuition areas, a rehearsal hall, a drama suite, lecture rooms and a central concourse area, as well as the most advanced IT systems. It will initially accommodate 400 full-time and 2,000 part-time students.
The new project marks the culmination of a long campaign by staff and students at the college for a new facility to replace the existing building on Union Quay. It has already been vacated and cleared of equipment to allow for demolition.
The new building will account for €45 million of the €60 million expenditure.
The remaining €15 million will be spent mainly on equipping it, as well as on capitalised interest and other financial and legal costs incurred by Jarvis Projects during construction.