By Irishexaminer.com,Martin Claffey
Copyright irishexaminer
“Cork City Council has a long-standing aspiration to see the delivery of a fully operated, multifunctional event centre in Cork with a capacity of approximately 5,000 to 7,000 persons. The Council acknowledges that without some level of public funding or subvention, potential investors would not proceed with the development of such a venue,” the consulation document said. “In recognition of this, public sector support for the event centre will be made available subject to the funding criteria and approval. In preparing for the procurement of the event centre, the Council is interested in engaging with suitably experienced developers as well as operators and promoters within the live entertainment and events industry to seek advice in relation to the Council’s procurement plans and requirements.”
The cost of the delivering the venue has soared from an initial estimate of about €50m to about €150m. Plans for a Cork Events Centre were first put in place 18 years ago, but have suffered a series of setbacks and false starts since.
The project now has fresh momentum. Last week, the Irish Examiner reported that in an update to Cork City councillors, elected members were told by the chair of the project development board Brian Geaney that City Hall is soon to issue a prior information notice to signal its intentions to the market. The council described this notice as a “key milestone” in a multi-stage process that will eventually result in a preferred bidder being chosen for the project.
The new project management delivery team for the events centre project has met monthly since January. The team is led by Mr Geaney, the assistant chief executive of Cork City Council, and includes members of the business community in Cork, government department representatives, and other agencies. I
The eTenders consultation callout published this week is “not a formal call for competition”, the delivery team noted. “Participation or non-participation in this preliminary market consultation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage on any person in respect of any future competitive procurement process.”
“The insights gathered through this consultation will be used solely to inform the Council’s procurement strategy and will not be shared with third parties outside the consultation.”
The procurement process for the Events Centre is now being overseen by Aecom, a global project management firm with an office in Cork.
