Decision time for Tullamore Dew visitor centre plans
Decision day is fast approaching for ambitious plans for a new visitor centre for Tullamore DEW on the site of its distillery, just off the bypass in the town.
Offaly County Council is due to announce a decision by Sunday, August 8, for the new visitor experience proposed by William Grant & Sons, which they say is the “first step to establish the site as a tourist destination”.
It follows the closure of the Tullamore DEW Visitor Centre in Bury Quay in September of 2020.
At the time the company indicated its plan to relocate the visitor centre to the site of its whiskey distillery.
What's proposed is a change of use of the existing three-storey Three Sisters Administration Building of some 441.5 square metres to a visitor centre with a shop.
It will host small scale tours to accommodate 6-10 people and it is envisaged that there will be a maximum of 70 visitors per day to the site during the peak season, according to the planning documents lodged in support of the project.
However, the company says the ambition is that the visitor centre will continue to develop until such time as “development of the originally proposed standalone visitor centre will be a viable option with visitor numbers ramping up over time”.
Setting out the reasons for the move from Bury Quay, the global distilling company says the relocation of the visitor experience will allow the company to “showcase the existing world-class distillery” and at the same time, create a “premium and immersive brand experience” by "bringing the brand story to life with a behind the scenes tour of the state-of-the-art facility”. This will include a visit to the still house, warehouse and master blender's laboratory.
Four people would be employed in the new centre with a maximum of three on-site per shift, according to the documents in the planning file.
William Grant & Sons said last year they had invested “more than €100 million” to bring together the malt, pot still and grain whiskey production to a single location in Tullamore, and that they employ 90 people at their distillery.