Confirmation that the Department of Education has signed a contract with a German building firm for the €60 million Cork School of Music has been warmly welcomed in Cork.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announced yesterday the department had agreed the contract with Hochtief for the project which will accommodate 400 full-time and 2,000 part-time students.
Ms Hanafin said the music school would be a welcome contribution to the overall regeneration of Cork city centre and the docklands area.
"I am conscious of the importance of this project to Cork and I am delighted to announce the new school is finally going ahead," she said.
Under the public-private partnership arrangement with Hochtief Developments Ltd, the company will design, build, finance and operate the school for 25 years at a cost per year of €7.6 million from the Government.
David Gordon, head of the department's public-private partnership unit, said the original deal with British firm Jarvis to build the school was due to cost €8.2 million a year but the department had pushed hard for better terms from Hochtief.
"The savings came about because of a drop in interest rates and more aggressive terms which Hochtief agreed with their banks - we insisted that we should have got the benefits for them and they passed them on to us," said Mr Gordon.
The music school is a constituent college of the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
CIT director Dr Brendan Murphy said he was delighted at the news, particularly as it came during Cork's tenure as European Capital of Culture.
Music school director Dr Geoffrey Spratt said the news heralded a consolidated future for the school.
He expected work would begin immediately and that the new facility would be ready by September 1st, 2007.
Dr Spratt paid tribute to his staff for continuing to provide an excellent education to students in temporary accommodation.
Gerry Kelly, a member of the music school's staff, who campaigned passionately for the new facility, was equally pleased with yesterday's announcement and echoed Dr Murphy's comments about its importance to Cork as a legacy of Cork 2005.
"We're overjoyed at the news and we're particularly overjoyed that it has happened during Cork's tenure as European Capital of Culture - we believe it's going to be a wonderful legacy of Cork 2005."
The new school, which will be built on the site of the existing music school on Union Quay, will include a 500-seater auditorium for rehearsals and performances, as well as a 100-seater theatre for drama rehearsals and productions.
