Bigger nightclub planned for Kilroy's site

A new and even bigger late bar/nightclub plan for the former Kilroy's site on Tullamore's Main Street is expected to be lodged with council planning offices next week, after an initial application that attracted three submissions was withdrawn on June 8. "Tullamore used to be known as the leading entertainment centre of the midlands," a spokesperson for the developer's architects said yesterday (Thursday). "That has slipped in recent years. This hopes to put it back on the map again." Angelo Magliocco from Creative Design Group Architects in Athlone told the Offaly Independent yesterday new plans will utilise the whole site. An initial plan for just 396 square metres of the 525 square metre premises was lodged on April 20. The original plan applied for changes to the existing space to include a late bar and night club, with permission also sought for the construction of a new 460 square metre extension to the rear of the premises to incorporate smoking areas and toilets. The plan currently being worked on, which Mr Magliocco expects to submit by the end of next week, looks to develop all 525 square metres of the existing building and add a 336 square metre split level extension to the rear. When complete, developers suggest the project will give employment to some 400 people. Plans set to be submitted next week are only phase one, Mr Magliocco emphasised. "There's still a lot of that building not being used, plus there's the whole yard," he said. He suggested that as well as a late bar/nightclub retail developments may come in the future, perhaps in the form of an Irish-themed village street with items like homemade butters, cheeses and jams for sale that would act as a tourist attraction to the town. "There's plenty of retail space in Tullamore at the moment," he said. "You can see the amount of shops that are closed. Any kind of an attraction that might generate tourism I'm sure would be very welcome."