Cork Centre Of Excellence To Go Out To Tender Next Week

Munster Rugby are delighted to confirm that the Cork Centre Of Excellence will go out to tender next week.

Works are expected to begin this summer with the facility to be completed in 2025.

Last year, Cork City Council approved an updated planning application for the Centre of Excellence and an additional Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Grant allocation of €1.2m for the facility was confirmed last December.

The Cork Centre of Excellence will be built primarily for Munster Rugby’s underage sides and the surrounding community with local clubs, schools and community groups set to benefit.

The new indoor training facility will be located at the Pearse Road end of the stadium and will include a synthetic all-weather playing surface, a gymnasium, dressing rooms, treatment rooms, offices, a kitchen and public toilets.

The all-weather playing surface will be 50 by 40 metres and the gymnasium will be 2,300 square feet. The plans also include offices on the second floor, a new single-storey ticketing booth and increased parking for both cars and buses.

The facilities are at the centre of Munster’s strategy for growing the game in the province and engaging with the local community and will complete phase three of Virgin Media Park’s development.

Two major redevelopments have taken place at the venue in recent years.

A €3.2m investment by Munster Rugby saw major redevelopment work take place nine years ago. A new 3,500-seater West Stand was constructed and the East Terrace was covered.

In 2018, a new modified 3G pitch surface was installed. The state-of-the-art pitch has allowed for a significant increase in games played across a number of sports and disciplines at the venue.

Along with a huge increase in the number of grassroots rugby games played on the pitch, a diverse range of activities are also taking place in the multi-purpose venue, from frisbee tournaments to yoga classes.

The economic benefit of Virgin Media Park for the surrounding area has grown exponentially in recent years. The surface has paved the way for the stadium to become one of the country’s top music venues with Take That and Sting among the star acts to perform at the venue this summer.