Historic Tipperary pharmacy to be transformed into short-term accommodation and museum
A historic former Clonmel pharmacy is set to be transformed into a museum and short-term accommodation under a €5.6million regeneration project.
Clonmel was allocated €13.1million under the Government’s Towns and Cities Regeneration Scheme, with €7.5million going towards phase one of the Clonmel Town Centre Public Realm Regeneration Scheme.
A further €5.6million has been allocated to the Parkes Chemist project.
At the September meeting of the Clonmel Borough District, councillors were given a brief presentation on the plans for both Parkes Chemist and the public realm works on O’Connell Street.
Councillors were told that the ground floor of Parkes would be restored and converted into a museum, while the upper floors will be converted into short-term accommodation.
Richard Power, one of the council’s executive engineers said that the project would have a total of €7.4million in funding after the council added their share of 25pc.
“In conjunction with Irish Landmark Trust, there will be a museum on the ground floor created, and in the remaining space in the building, there will be short-term accommodation.
“The Irish Landmark Trust works all across Ireland and they rent out similar heritage buildings, they have a lot of lighthouses around the country, but they have cool and unique places to stay,” Mr Power said.
The upper floors of the building will be turned into one short-term accommodation property, the meeting was told, meaning just one group would stay there at a time.
Extra streetscape works will also take place on Upper Gladstone Street, around Parkes Chemist, which will see new footpaths and public lighting.
Councillors were also told more about the plans for the public realm upgrades of O’Connell Street, Mitchell Street, Abbey Street and Bank Lane.
“The main changes will be that O’Connell Street from the Mary Street junction to the Main Guard will be one-way, and then there’ll be footpath realignment, upgraded crossings and street furniture,” he said.
Mayor of Clonmel Siobhán Ambrose said that the scheme will be “transformative” for the town, adding that a difficult decision to raise commercial rates had paid off.
“A couple of years ago, councillors had to vote on the difficult decision to increase commercial rates in order to provide the match funding for this and other similar projects.
“It was a very difficult time, it was a very unpopular time, but it’s great now that all the businesses are delighted and they will now see the fruits of that difficult decision,” Cllr Ambrose said.