Plans to breathe new life into two former Garda stations in County Roscommon have taken another step forward following the appointment of a design team to progress the projects.
Limerick-based Feeney McMahon Architects has been appointed to design and oversee the redevelopment of the former Garda stations in Ballintubber and Tarmonbarry.
The €280,720 contract will run for 18 months and will bring the projects through design and planning and onwards to construction and handover.
In Ballintubber, the former Garda station is earmarked for transformation into a community facility incorporating a community café and visitor accommodation.
Plans envisage a multipurpose facility serving local residents, youth and Active Age groups, students and visitors, while also providing IT training and remote-working facilities.
The project is also intended to address a shortage of visitor accommodation in the area.
Meanwhile, the former Garda station in Tarmonbarry is set to become a tourism and multipurpose creative hub.
Plans include a universally accessible reception area and interactive VR tourism hub on the ground floor, along with a meeting room, kitchen facilities and other amenities.
The first floor would contain a flexible meeting and community space, while a rear courtyard is intended to accommodate community gatherings, events and performances.
An adjoining outbuilding is also proposed for reuse by craft and creative enterprises or tourism-related businesses.
The Tarmonbarry facility is intended to operate as a trailhead and tourism information centre as well as a community facility.
Roscommon County Council previously acquired both vacant Garda stations under the 2022 Town and Village Renewal Scheme’s Building Acquisition Measure.
More than €280,000 in Rural Regeneration funding has previously been allocated to the two projects.
The completed facilities are ultimately intended to be managed by local communities or social enterprises.
