The Cavan Institute Thread.

I see the college of knowledge has a new brochure out to promote itself. They have aquired the Dun Ui Neill barracks and seem to have big plans for developing the site. I hope the plan is to continue to develop the campus on Cathedral Road in town? That is a better location because it is within 10 minutes walk of the centre of town and has plenty of living accommodation, shops, etc. near by. It is a bog boost to the town, economically, to have a couple of hundred students around. On the side of the busiest stretch of road in the county, a long walk from town, with very few houses or apartments near by is not the best location. You will almost certainly need a car to get there, which is not good when you are trying to attract students.

The existing main campus has plenty of room for further expansion whereas the army barrcks site is fully developed already. Obviously they should make use of the existing facilities on the army barracks site but I wouldnt like to see them expand it at the expense of the existing campus. Developing the sports facilities, along with Cavan County Board and other sports organisations is a good idea, as is bringing together other campus site, such as the motor garage on the Ballinagh road, but they are better off keeping as much as they can in the town.

I see from the Celt that Cavan Institute are applying for funding to buy on site on which to build their campus (cant find the article on the website to add a link). It's hard to believe that they are looking to buy another site when the site they have on Cathedral Road (where they have purpose built facilities) is perfect. There is loads of space to expand, there are apartments right behind it which are ideal for students accommodation, they have shops nearby (supermarket, pharmacy, laundrette, chipper), an adjacent park and it is within walking distance of the town centre.

To create a new campus on a greenfield site, by the time they have bought the site and built a building similar to that on Cathedral Road, they will have spent €10m just to get to the same facilities they have now, nevermind providing additional facilities. Moving to a site like the IDA site in Killygarry is too far out and will damage businesses in the town and every student will need a car to get there which will make it less attractive to potential students. There will be no vibrancy to the campus as it will be in an out of town business park!

There is no chance they will get the funding needed to build an entirely new campus from scratch. Even if they get a site, they will have to sit on it for years waiting for funding, meanwhile their existing facilities will be neglected. Even if they do get the money, students will be put off because there will be no vibrancy to the campus as it will be in an out of town business park, meanwhile the town will suffer. I can see this damaging the Institute and the town in the long run.

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Campus already spread out all over the place. The building on Cathedral Road was too small by far, as soon as it was built. And then you had classes in the old convent, St.Pats, the old County Home and from time to time above The Melbourne bakery. Plus the woodwork & furniture design centre out beside Lidl.

Just look at the space available around the buildings on Cathedral Road;

http://binged.it/1BIB2V2

There is easily scope to quadruple the floor space while still remaining parking and incorporating outdoor spaces. The site has been levelled, stoned off and is ready for development

The existing building was too small by far, as soon as it was built because it took a decade to get the funding and build the building. They could be waiting another decade before they get a similar building built on a new site, nevermind developing a full campus. €5m could double the floor space on Cathedral Road, whereas the same money wouldn’t even buy a new site and build the same building on the new site. Even if they did get the money to buy a new site and build a new building, that building would only replace the currently rented buildings (although not the apartment block which they have on a long term lease) so the Cathedral Road building would remain in use. Rather than creating a centralised campus, buying a new site will only ensure the campus remains divided for many years to come.

That Cathedral Road site was once a lake, so I don't know what engineering problems you might encounter. ( I remember 25 years or so, the Celt ran a report whereby a set of antlers from a Giant Irish Elk were found in that lake)

I don’t know anything about the Cathedral Road site having been a lake but given the scale of development all around it, it certainly is suitable for further development.

What happened to the plan to use the Army Barracks? Sports field etc. already in place there, as a prominent local builder constructed the sports facilities in exchange for the plot of land where they built the NCT centre.

According to the Celt, they intend to use the Army Barracks site even if a new site is purchased. Just goes to prove that they know they wont have a single campus any time soon.