Staff EmailHistory of St. Nathy’s College [5]
For several years the Sports Complex remained unfinished
and, largely, barely functional. The then Minister for Education,
Michael Martin, accepted an invitation to visit the school in September
1998. To his credit, the minister was sympathetic and promised
assistance. He later sanctioned €100,000 from his Department to assist
with the completion of the building.
Most of this financial assistance went towards the laying of a floor and
the completion of other structural works. However, it soon became
obvious that, with the building boom of the late nineties, it would
require significant and substantial financial funding to fully complete
the project.
Costings were obtained for Phase II of the Sports Complex which would
provide the necessary changing / toilet / shower facilities as well as
providing heating to the existing building.
That cost was estimated at €500,000. Minister Michael Woods was sympathetic to a request for assistance and, in June 2001, his Department sanctioned this amount. Work began on the final stages the building in September 2001 and, just a few days before being opened by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern T.D. on February 28th 2002, the building was finally completed. The contractor had been Noel Regan, Ballaghaderreen. The architect was Niall J. Kearns, Galway.
In September 2004, the College added to its sports
facilities when it took possession of a reclaimed and now all-weather
football pitch – a project which had begun in March 2001 by Sean Hegarty,
Donegal.
Recent modifications to the campus also saw the 1985 building being
reroofed as well as adjustments being made to internal corridors in June
2004. The architect responsible for the project was Niall J Kearns,
Galway. The roofing contractors were Coleman Lynch, Ballaghaderreen. In
June 2005 the entire school campus was broadband enabled with broadband
access provided to all rooms on campus. This project had been carried
out by Eircom.
In June 2006, the Old Military Barracks, as well as the 1916 and 1941 buildings, were totally rewired and upgraded for fire alarms. The contractors were Matty Conaty, Mullingar. The Consulting Engineers were Delap & Waller, Dublin.
