Additional Open Day at Ferbane convent this Saturday ahead of redevelopment project

Members of the public are being given an opportunity to tour St Joseph's Convent in Ferbane this Saturday, August 19, from 11am to 1pm, ahead of a planned redevelopment of the building and its grounds.

This weekend's Open Day event follows on from an earlier Open Day on Friday, March 31, which was attended by more than 100 people.

Brian Flynn, chairperson of the An Síolán community group in Ferbane, said the hosting of a second Open Day was arranged to ensure that anyone who wasn't able to attend in March would have another chance to tour the facility.

"The feedback we got was that a few people had missed the opportunity to call in to the previous Open Day because it was on a weekday.

"We're hoping to ensure that as many groups and individuals as want to have an input (into the redevelopment project) get an opportunity to do so."

Preparations are well underway for the redevelopment of St Joseph's Convent, which is due to have St Hilda's Services and the Laois Offaly Education Training Board (LOETB) as its anchor tenants.

A "multi-purpose community space" is also due to be developed there and made available for use through the An Síolán group.

An architectural design team is currently reviewing the convent site and buildings with a view to preparing a redevelopment plan, and suggestions received during the Open Day consultation events are due to be incorporated.

Brian said there has been a positive reaction in the local community to the redevelopment plans.

"People were worried about another building becoming derelict, and they appreciate the potential the building and the grounds have for community use.

"I think there's quite a bit of enthusiasm for the project," he said.

It's hoped that the design work on the redevelopment will be completed by November and that it will go to tender for a building contractor in early 2024.

"We're hoping that we will have the design work finished by the middle of November, with a view to then applying for the next round of rural generation funding," Brian explained.

"The plan would be that we would have it ready to go for tender early next year."

The convent building is currently being used by community organisations, and he said this would continue until the construction project got underway.

"At that point, we'll have to find alternative locations for some of those groups during the construction phase."

On behalf of An Síolán, he expressed his gratitude to Offaly County Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development for their support shown to the redevelopment project to date.