Cllrs told new County Archive and Cultural Building in restored Old St Patrick's Classical School expected to be completed late next year or early 2028

The new County Archive and Cultural building, which will be housed on the Old St Patrick's Classical School, is expected to be completed late next year or early in 2028, a meeting of Navan Muncipal Council heard last week.

Tenders for the project, which will see the conservation of the iconic "Duckegg" building, are curently being assessed.

Brendan Redmond of OC&C Architects told councillors the building was a hidden gem in the centre of Navan. "Bringing this unique and important structure back into public use will have an enormous benefit to the town of Navan and wider hinterland."

He said the project is being advanced through the Thrive scheme in terms of funding, so there is a large aspect of public space and accessibility involved.

"It is tucked away at the rear of St Finian's Tce in the centre of Navan. To the west there is a new public space and amphitheatre. It is heavily sloped with steps up to the building from the public space.

"We are looking at restoring the old handball alley, which is on the site and generally landscaping around the new archive building."

He said there will be an access point from St Finian's Terrace and the amphitheatre and the entire project is wheelchair accessible.

The building will house a main entrance lobby and staff spaces and the main reading room will be at at first floor level. This will also serve as a community space."Tenders have been returned in the last two weeks and analysis is underway. We are expecting to award the contract in Q2 this year and there will be a construction period of 18 months."

He said the expected completion would be in quarter four of next year, or early 2028. Director of Services, Martin Murray said the project and tenders are very much about conservation skills. "This is not about building, it is conserving."

The Mayor, Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons said he was looking forward to see contractors on site.

Cllr Eddie Fennessy said the project would be an "incredible addition for Navan."

"We have one greenway and another on the way. We need projects like this to encourage visitors into the town," he said.

Cllr Yemi Adenuga asked what was being done to ensure the archives were being preserved.

She was told that at the moment the archives are behind closed doors in the library and the new facility would allow them to used for research.

"The archive room will be environmentally protected, with temperature and humidity control and has been designed to European standards."

Cllr Emer Tóibín said the sooner the work is completed the better.

Cllr Fennessy, who is on the Thrive committee, pointed out that that access from St Finian's Terrace would be for deliveries only, that parking will be at the old Council building and construction traffic will access the site from the back of the old council building.

The derelict old seminary will be converted into a new cultural hub, which will include the new County Archive and a community space. The design for St Finian’s Seminary is to convert the building into a new Community Hub and County Archive.

The public realm will be restored in line with the natural gradient of the space to create a natural amphitheatre will provide outdoor space for cultural and artistic performances and events.

It will also provide linkages to the other cultural buildings in its proximity and to the historic town core.

The community hub will be used for community meetings, workshops, classes and training and it will also act as a community exhibition space.

The County Archive will provide an appropriate space to store historical records, photographic collections and industrial heritage collections which will be available free of charge for researchers.