Arts centre in Cork tourism town ‘homeless’ as its building goes on sale

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

A West Cork councillor has called for the county’s vacant and derelict buildings to be opened up for “meanwhile use” by artists, cultural organisations and community groups, citing the example of the Clonakilty arts centre which is losing its building while the town’s former fire station sits vacant.

‘Meanwhile use’ is the temporary use of empty buildings for various purposes while they await longer-term development or occupancy. Examples include pop-up shops, street markets, and exhibition spaces.

At this month’s Western Divisional meeting, Cllr Isobel Towse called on Cork County Council to develop a strategy for meanwhile use. “I am appealing to the council to do everything within its power to facilitate and indeed encourage meanwhile use, in both public and private buildings where possible,” she said.

Cllr Towse pointed to the example of the vacant former fire station in Clonakilty while the town’s community arts centre “is being evicted as their current building is for sale, and they have been told it is more likely to sell if it is unoccupied.”

“I think if meanwhile use were the norm, perhaps they wouldn't have to leave at the drop of a hat and would have more time to find a permanent premises. The irony now is that the building may lie vacant for a long time, while the arts centre has no home and seeks meanwhile use of a public building to tide them over.”

The Social Democrats councillor said that vacant buildings have a negative impact on a town's economy and the health and wellbeing of the community.

“Meanwhile, artists are crying out for spaces to create and put on cultural activities, organisations and community groups need places to meet and micro businesses would benefit from affordable retail spaces.”

Meanwhile use would boost economic development and innovation, attract tourism, and improve the liveability of towns while tackling the problem of vacancy and dereliction, she said.

The council’s response to Cllr Towse’s motion was that while it’s a matter for private property owners to consider short-term or meanwhile use of their property, the local authority has set up a new unit to manage properties owned by the council and that unit may consider leasing properties to community groups on a case-by-case basis.

The council added that if it did decide to make a property available for meanwhile use, it would be obliged to seek expressions of interest and tenders from the broader community. Those expressions of interest would be evaluated to ensure they delivered value for money and the best outcome for the local community.

Cllr Alan Coleman expressed disappointment with the council’s response. He said that in his experience in Bandon “those who have come forward expressing interest in using those buildings have found the council so difficult to deal with that they just walked away from it.”

“I’d like a policy change so that we would make it easy for someone who comes to us and says they're interested in using our buildings to actually use them.”