Big step in transforming derelict Mayo hotel into innovation hub

Efforts to renovate the derelict Imperial Hotel in Castlebar into an innovation hub are gathering pace.

Anne Moore, head of the Castlebar Municipal District, said the Part 8 planning process for the historic site on the Mall is expected to be advertised in the summer, possibly in August.

Elected members have been campaigning for plans for the site to be moved forward and remedy the sorry state of dereliction in which it has been left for over a decade.

Design work is progressing in conjunction with a limited enabling works contract, with a view to preparing an updated cost plan for the development and lodging a planning application in the coming weeks.

* Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.