| RTE plans €350m revamp of Dublin site RTE has announced redevelopment plans for its Monstrose site mooted to cost in the region of €350m and provide 650 construction jobs at its peak. The national broadcaster unveiled an ambitious 15-year plan to replace the current 1960 and 1970’s buildings on the Donneybrook site with a purpose-built modern building complex designed for the digital and High-Definition age. |
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| Construction work is expected to begin in 2012, if planning permission is secured. RTÉ said the redevelopment would not be funded through TV licence fees but through reserves, capital investment funds and borrowings. Announcing the development, RTÉ director general Cathal Goan said: "Clearly this is not an ideal time to be announcing a large proposed construction project. But to remain competitive and to continue to give Irish viewers, listeners and web-users the best possible services, we have to invest in new facilities built for the digital age." RTÉ announced the building plan ahead of submitting a 10-year planning application to Dublin City Council on October 9. The announcement was made in advance of Dublin City Council’s planned preparation and consideration of a new Dublin City Development Plan. It required that RTE, in common with other major landowners in the city, present their long term planning observations to the local authority. The plan envisages the gradual replacement of most of the current buildings with a purpose-built complex of studios, production areas, rehearsal and performance spaces and staff offices. RTE said independent media companies and suppliers will also be able to use the new facilities. A new high-definition digital TV and new digital radio studio will be given priority under the proposals. RTE said the plan has evolved through a full review of all options for the renewal of RTÉ’s production base and capital facilities. The proposal includes mixed zoning, including residential units to the front of the 32-acre site which will either be rented or possibly sold. New offices and multimedia facilities will also be rented and are expected to help fund the loan. The plans will be built in five phases, depending on finances available and business requirements. "We are confident that the most cost-effective, sustainable and technically robust option available is to reconfigure our existing site and incorporate all facilities into a single new building," Mr Goan said. RTE will continue to broadcast while the new buildings will be constructed. |
