Local Mayo councillor wants derelict hotel as the new Municipal Building

Councillor Harry Barrett has called for Castlebar’s Imperial Hotel to become the new Municipal Building.

Castlebar’s growing population ‘demands proper civic buildings’ to meet their needs, according to the local councillor.

The current Municipal Building is located at The Mall in the county town.

Cllr Barrett put down a motion at the July meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, and stated: “The current situation cannot continue, and this is why the Imperial Hotel must now be renovated to provide civic and administrative buildings for the people of the Castlebar Electoral Area.”

He continued: "The town of Castlebar is projected to have 17,000 people by 2040 so you can double this number for the Electoral area. This means that needs in housing, roads and engineering will also increase. The current space allocated to the Castlebar Municipal District will never deal with this increased future need.”

The Imperial Hotel, which is noted for being the founding location of The Land League, has been vacant since 2009. Mayo County Council purchased the property for €800,000 in 2011, but the property has since fallen into a derelict state.

The Independent councillor said he had been made aware of a major problem with the ‘lack of space in the housing department’ and that privacy to speak to officials is limited, as well as space for filing. Furthermore, Cllr Barrett said he was also ‘unhappy’ with the fact that the Municipal chamber is located above the canteen, as it is ‘very confined’ and has’ very little sense of the people it represents’.

"This is not acceptable, and it makes absolute sense now to use the historic Imperial Hotel, located on the Mall, as a proper municipal building for the people of the area. Other towns in the county have proper civic offices. Ballina is a fine example of what can be done,” continued the local councillor.

He addressed an announcement by Minister of State, Alan Dillon three years ago, of €11.5 million in funding to renovate this area.

"Money has been promised to renovate this area…so funding is not an issue, we thank him for that, so I would now like to think that he would support this cause based on the future needs of the people,” added Cllr Barrett.

The councillor concluded: “My main objective now is to try and convince my council colleagues to make this a non-partisan decision so that we kill two birds with one stone: providing proper civic and administrative buildings for the people of this electoral area and renovating the historic Imperial Hotel.”