Cork City Council has purchased the historic Counting House complex on South Main Street for €35 million plus VAT, paving the way for it to become the new Cork City Public Library.

The deal was supported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Government's Towns and Cities Regeneration Investment Fund (formerly the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund [URDF]), and the site was acquired from JPDC Ltd, part of the BAM Contractors Limited Group in Ireland.

Described as one of the Council's largest cultural infrastructure investments in a generation, the choice of the Counting House follows a detailed appraisal of several city centre options by local stakeholders and national and international experts. The complex, which includes the restored landmark Counting House from the former Beamish & Crawford brewery and a four-storey office block to the rear, was judged the most affordable, lowest-risk and best overall performer against criteria such as cost, value for money, deliverability, sustainability and cultural impact.

The new library will replace the existing Grand Parade building, which the Council says is undersized and inflexible, and suffers from accessibility constraints and poor energy performance. The required alterations to the Counting House can be delivered without compromising the site's history and industrial heritage.

A Part 8 planning process — including public consultation — will now be undertaken to adapt the complex. Detailed design during this stage will set out the next-phase costs. The Council expects the new library to open to the public sooner than any of the other locations considered, advancing a long-standing objective to deliver a modern, expanded service.

At just over 83,600 sq ft (just under 7,300 sqm) net internal area, the Counting House is more than three times the size of the current City Library and is designed to accommodate an estimated one million visitors a year by 2050. The reimagined complex will provide capacity for the existing 500,000-strong catalogue of books, magazines and journals, host up to 1,500 events annually and handle around 300,000 enquiries a year. It will also include 300 study spaces, a new entrance and concourse, a shop and café, lecture, performance and exhibition spaces, dedicated children's, teen and young adult sections, an expanded Cork Local Studies section and an expanded Rory Gallagher music library.

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Bringing the vacant site in the medieval heart of the city back into public use will also activate the plaza to the front for concerts and public performances, complementing extensive publicly funded regeneration in the area.

The decision follows an updated Preliminary Business Case (PBC) commissioned last year from consultants EY, which examined four options: refurbishing and extending the current library; a new build on the existing Grand Parade site; a new build on the adjacent riverfront carpark site (not in Council ownership); and the adaptive reuse of the Counting House complex. The PBC found the Counting House was the clear top performer across major measures, with the lowest capital cost, reduced construction and planning risk (as the building already exists), and a lower-carbon, more sustainable approach. Stakeholder engagement with library staff, users and partners will continue as the project advances.

The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Fergal Dennehy, welcomed the purchase. "The purchase of this historic building marks an exciting new chapter not just for our library service, but for our city," the Lord Mayor said.

The Chief Executive of Cork City Council, Valerie O'Sullivan, said the Counting House complex is fronted by a prominent heritage building whose historic character makes it a natural home for a flagship cultural institution. "Its reuse reflects international best practice, where cities such as Helsinki, Aarhus, London and Montreal have transformed historic, industrial or commercial buildings into vibrant, modern libraries that become major civic attractions," the Chief Executive said.

"The new library will remain in the heart of Cork city centre, reinforcing the area as a vibrant cultural quarter.

"Positioned beside the regenerated Bishop Lucey Park, Triskel Christchurch, the medieval spine and the South Main Street regeneration areas, the Counting House location creates a powerful cultural anchor for residents, students, families and visitors.

"It also unlocks future redevelopment potential at the existing library site, supporting wider renewal that the Council will bring forward for the Grand Parade Quarter.

"It is fitting that this building is now in public ownership to serve the people of Cork and those who come here for generations to come."

Minister James Browne, TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, said he was delighted to welcome the purchase of the building by Cork City Council. "This purchase marks the final element of just under €47m of Government investment in the Grand Parade Quarter that was promised under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund Calls 1 and 2," the Minister said. "The Grand Parade Quarter development as a whole is transformative and will combine with other complementary developments in the area to create a vibrant quarter where culture and learning acts as a catalyst for business and tourism."

The Council noted that recent International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions case studies show how historic structures are being successfully repurposed as modern libraries worldwide, including the University of Luxembourg Learning Centre at Belval Campus (a former steelworks site), HTWG Library in Konstanz, Germany (a former slaughterhouse), Marrickville Library at Patyegarang Place in Sydney (an abandoned hospital) and Windsor Public Library's John Muir branch in Ontario (a former fire hall and stable).