THE public are being urged to attend a drop-in event this week to hear more about the plans of the reuse of the former Courthouse in Letterkenny as an exciting tourist attraction.
The drop-in event takes place in the old Courthouse, Letterkenny via the entrance on Justice Walsh Road, on Thursday, October 24, between 3pm and 8pm.
The consultancy team led by EPIC Heritage Consulting Ltd and the Regeneration Team of Donegal County Council will be available to give more information on the stage in the project and next steps.
The aim of the project is to reuse the historic Courthouse building as a major tourist attraction with the objective of increasing visitor numbers to Letterkenny’s historic town centre and to the wider Northwest region.
A previous drop-in event was held in January this year to hear the ideas of the public and stakeholders.
Following on from that, three of the best ideas for what the visitor experience might be were brought forward for consumer testing to find out what future visitors from Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain, US, France and Germany think about the ideas.
The consumer testing informed the identification of the preferred idea which is now being developed further to create an Interpretation Plan and a Business Plan.
Councillor Gerry McMonagle, Mayor of Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District said, “The old Letterkenny Courthouse is in a fantastic location in the heart of the town centre and we are very excited about the potential it offers to create an amazing tourist attraction that will act as a Gateway to Discover Donegal. I am encouraging the public to come along to the old Courthouse on Thursday, October 24 to hear more about the work that has been done to date to develop a great visitor experience for the town.”
Liam Ward, Director of Service, Community Development and Planning Services said he is pleased to see that the project has reached this milestone.
“The preferred visitor experience for the Courthouse is rooted in the people and place of Donegal and I look forward to the next stage in the project to dig deeper into the themes and stories to be told through an Interpretation Plan.
“In tandem, the preparation of a Business Plan is critical to ensure the sustainability of the project in addition to understanding better the economic benefits that the project can bring to the wider region.”
The project is funded by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) with match funding provided by Donegal County Council.
It forms part of Councils wider Leitirceanainn 2040 Regeneration programme www.letterkenny2040.ie
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