Dundalk IT given the go ahead to convert JJB into sports education centre

What the new Dundalk IT Sports Arena will look like when fully operational

Dundalk IT have been granted conditional planning permission by Louth County Council to convert the former JJB complex at Bothar na Feirme into a sports and education centre.

The college plan to change the retail area at the first floor level into an area equipped for sports educational and training purposes. They also hope to use it as an exam hall when they see fit.

Meanwhile, the existing playing pitch area and associated changing area at the ground floor level will also be used for sports education and training uses, as well as as an exam hall.

The proposed development will also consist of a new pedestrian access point of Bothar na Feirme, the removal of an existing vehicular access along the western boundary, the reduction of 79 car parking spaces and the reconfiguration of the existing car park layout. There would also be a repositioning of the existing bus lay-by to provide for a dedicated cycle parking area, as well as elevational changes to include the erection of four new fascia signs.

It is also hoped to construct a new boundary wall to the north and west, in addition to landscaping and all site development works.

DkIT Sport, as the building will now be known, has been used by students since the turn of the year and was officially opened last Friday, with FAI President John Delaney attending.

It will open to the public in June and will be managed by the Holohan Leisure Group.

Its facilities will include a 20m swimming pool, changing rooms, steam room, jacuzzi, gym area, aerobic studio, indoor cycling studio, 10 indoor sports pitches and a dedicated high performance strength and conditioning training zone when fully operational.

The strength and conditioning training zone is the first of its kind in the county while the gym will include brand new, gold standard, Precor gym equipment.

The aim is to make DkIT sport “the best kitted out gym in Ireland.”

The indoor sports pitches will be available to local sports teams, clubs and the public for recreational use, as well as catering for children’s birthday parties.

A full timetable of group exercise classes will also be available.

The leisure centre will open on Monday June 29 and club membership options will be available to members of the general public.

A pre-opening membership sale is expected in early to mid June and will include use of the gym, studios, swimming pool, steam room and jacuzzi.

Abbotstown, not Dundalk, now earmarked for country’s first indoor velodrome

The National Sports Campus has plenty of scope for future development of something along the lines of a velodrome

Dundalk’s hopes of having the first international standard indoor velodrome look to have taken another hit as plans now look in place to have it located at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown.

Last month plans were unveiled by Dundalk IT and Cuchulainn Cycling Club for a state-of-the-art track at the former JJB Sports Complex at Dundalk Retail Park.

However, those proposals have been put on ice due to students voting against it.

While those behind it insist it is not dead in the water, Cycling Ireland and Badminton Ireland have presented the findings of a feasibility study on establishing a velodrome at Abbotstown, with the National Sports Campus Development Authority (NSCDA) presenting them to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The study concluded that once it becomes operational the business model being proposed for the velodrome would make it self-financing.

So enthused have all parties been with the plans that last week Minister Leo Varadkar gave the NSCDA the go ahead to draw up plans for a velodrome.

It is understood it will be built to international specifications, with a 250-metre track wrapped around a badminton facility containing 16 courts. The cost of the project is estimated at around €8m and it is possible that work could start on it as soon as later this year.

That would put Abbotstown firmly in the driving seat for the country’s first indoor velodrome.