Limerick Athenaeum - Current Use

Current Use

The original Athenaeum Building was used as a school from the 1940s to the 1960s and was known in Limerick as the "One Day" Boys School. In 1973 the City VEC moved its Administrative Headquarters from O'Connell Street to the Athenaeum Building. In 2003 a €1m Department of Education & Science-funded refurbishment programme was completed. This refurbishment project was carefully designed to preserve the historical building's important architectural features, including external facade, internal stairways and sash windows, while at the same time providing the most modern in terms of access, furnishing and technology.

In the late 1990s, ownership of the Athenaeum Hall reverted to the VEC. In 2012, the VEC applied for planning permission for a film and digital media centre in the Hall. The project involves the provision of three auditoriums, multi-purpose lecture and performance space, digital lounge, editing studios, meeting rooms and a cáfe. The objectives of the centre are to provide a centre of excellence in film and digital media and create opportunities for the hundreds of media and computer science students who graduate from Limerick colleges every year.Limerick City Council granted planning permission in late 2012 and it is expected that the first phase of the development will be ready for fit-out by mid-2014. Further development of the site is to include incubation space for business start-ups and a permanent home for the Limerick Museum of Film. The museum will house a private collection which is the second largest in the country after that of the Irish Film Institute.