Open day for the future plans at the old courthouse in Letterkenny
By Dionne Meehan
LOCALS were invited to voice their opinions on the future of the former Letterkenny Courthouse at a drop-in event held in the town this week.
Invited by Donegal County Council, the public had the chance to get involved in developing the future plans for the old courthouse on Justice Walsh Road, as an exciting tourist attraction.
Speaking to the Donegal News at the event, Sinead McCauley, Acting Senior Executive Manager in the Regeneration Team with Donegal County Council, described the building as being a “brilliant space” and a “massive asset” for the town centre.
“We all think that it can bring good, vibrant footfall into the town centre that will have great knock on benefits for other businesses and for activity within the town centre.
“The idea is to try and understand, from the public’s perspective, what type of tourist attraction might really be effective within this space.
“What could be a really exciting visitor experience that local people, people across the county, across the region and indeed visitors from overseas and further away would come to and be attracted to,” she said.
Hiring ‘EPIC’ consultancy to work alongside them on the project, Sinead said out of 15 ideas they have come up with five concepts.
Concept one is a water experience titled ‘Soaked to the Skin’.
It will consist of an outdoor experience indoors where the natural elements of the Wild Atlantic Way are experienced in an immersive way.
Visitors will walk through a water wall but remain dry. They will experience winds on the cliff edge without being blown off the cliff.
Virtual Reality experiences might include walking across a wet bog or jumping off the cliff edge.
Visitors will experience all the exhilaration, without the discomfort.
Concept two is the North West Museum of Music.
This idea will be focused around celebrating and rejuvenating the musical heritage of Donegal offering aural and physical opportunities to listen and play instruments as well as being on stage with musicians using virtual reality.
Concept three is the Donegal Science and Technology Centre.
This centre would present an interactive, immersive, engaging and informative science-technology-digitally focused attraction.
This could advocate for skills development and STEM subjects by exploring topics in an accessible and interactive way for locals, educators, students and families.
Concept four is the Bog People Experience.
This would be a fun, must-see, Madame Tussaud’s like wax works inspired experience, unique to the country, that invites visitors to enjoy seeing famous Donegal personalities mixed with celebrities created out of moss, turf and bog oak who grow (slowly) in front of their eyes.
And finally, concept five is the Aurora Borealis Experience.
The aim of this experience is to create an outdoor experience indoors, where visitors, young and old, can be enthralled by the night-time experience of the Aurora Borealis using cinematic, and digital virtual reality technologies to bring the experience to life.
Visitors can explore the science behind the phenomenon using interactive technology while enjoying place-specific stories from locals who, for generations, have been in awe of it.
Now working to collate the feedback they recieved from the public, the team hopes to be one step closer to deciding on the perfect use for the space soon.
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