Phase 1 of the redevelopment of Walsh Park will start in early 2022 according to county board chairman Sean Michael O'Regan.
Clubs were presented with plans for the city venue at a county board meeting this week.
"The hope would be that in Q1 of next year we would see some activity in Walsh Park, as in Walsh Park has started,” O’Regan told WLR’s Lár Na Páirce show. “It's going to be phased so it's going to be over a couple of years like we discussed with the clubs the other night. Everybody would love to go in and do it all in one go but we just don't have the finances to do it and we're not going to get that level of activity going that fast."
Phase 1 involves renovating the existing stand and bank. "Phase 1 is going to be the South Stand, changing the seating, upgrading the roof, the roof needs repair work done. Also within phase 1 would be the North Bank, that will be a seated area. We would hope to start that in Q1 of 2022 and that would roll out in Q1 of 2023."
The new Walsh Park will cost between 10 to 12 million euro. “It isn’t our intention to go beyond that in any way,” O’Regan confirmed. The capacity will be approximately 13,000 with 8,000 of that seated.
He hopes that the project will be completed over the next four years. "The wish would be around the end of 2025. If it's sooner, we would be delighted with that. Phase 1 could be done by Q1 of 2023 all going well."
Hear more from Sean Michael O’Regan on Lár Na Páirce from 6.10 on WLR.
