A new city library for Dublin’s city centre, located on Parnell Square, is being rumoured to cost up to €100 million.
The colossal figure was revealed at a meeting of the Central area committee yesterday.
Originally, costs for the project were anticipated to be around the €60 million mark, but those costs have risen after factoring in VAT of €13 million and professional fees of €10.5 million – deeming €40 million more expensive then previously considered.
Additional costs will also include other equipment such as the provision of digital systems.
The new Dublin city Library will serve the 1.2 million population of the Greater Dublin Area (Dublin City, South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire –Rathdown, Fingal, Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow), attracting an estimated 3,000 visitors a day.
Committee chairman, Ciaran Cuffe, suggested at the meeting if the Central Bank building on Dame Street could be bought and converted, therefore cutting costs.
To which Dublin City librarian Margaret Hayes replied:
There was quite a rigorous process to select a site. We did look at the Central Bank some years back, and it’s quite a difficult building. They’re very low-ceiling floors and in the middle they’re quite dark. That was one of the reasons why we weren’t really that keen on it.
The Dublin 1 north-west quadrant was always the area really that we were trying to focus on, and the need to bring something significant to Dublin 1 would probably outweigh the benefits for Dame Street.
The project was announced back in April 2013, and is being financed by Parnell Square Foundation and carried out by its wholly owned development company PSQ Developments Limited with the support of Dublin City Council, Kennedy Wilson and the Office of Public Works.
The target date for opening of the new cultural complex is 2020.
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