Moves to provide cover for old St Pat’s school building

Planning application expected for development of County Archive

Steel propping to support vulnerable walls, as well as temporary protection or cover from the elements will be installed at the old St Patrick's Classical School in Navan by the end of October.

Meath County Council also expects to make a planning application next year for the development of a County Archive in the historic building.

At a meeting of Navan Municipal District Council last week, the issue of the iconic 'duckegg' building was raised by Cllr Emer Tóibín in light of the caving in of the roof of the structure at the end of May.

She demanded to know why, after the purchase of the former home of old St. Patrick’s Classical School for €603,000, over the past 18 years nothing had been done to prevent “the irremediable damage that has befallen this unique and architecturally important building.”

She called on the Council to outline the route of progression from here.

“How much it will cost to restore, stabilise and return it to Meath's treasured built heritage stock?” she asked.

She called on the Council “ to ensure that, in light of the significant damage to and ongoing passive neglect of the protected structure” that a detailed inspection and monitoring regime, for historic buildings in the Council's ownership be drawn up “to prevent anything like this happening again.”

She was told the temporary propping/protection has been fully designed and is with the contractor. Any excavation works for new footings will be monitored by a consultant archaeologist on site.

The overall objective is to restore the building as a county archive, including genealogy research centre and lecture and study space.

Cllr Tóibín was told internal stakeholder engagement has commenced, which will be followed by external stakeholder engagement and a Part 8 planning application would be made in March next year.

The Council will apply for Category A funding under the Urban Regeneration Development Fund. In a report to the Council, officials said that over the years funding opportunities and the necessary prioritising of core services have restricted investment in the building.

“The matter would have been consistently raised historically by the Conservation Officer with reference to seeking external funding, which was not forthcoming over the period.

“However recent central government schemes, such as the Urban Regeneration Development Fund, have enabled local authorities to advance specific goals regarding urban regeneration.

“Meath County Council’s vision to transform this area and restore this building will greatly enhance the social, economic and environmental assets of the town, the county, and the wider region.

“The proposed project will restore and re-purpose an important historic building, adding to the cultural offer of the town and region; redevelop a brownfield, strategically located site; and provide for future employment opportunities in a town that has been impacted by unemployment,” according to the report.