Councillors want to use pool as museum

A proposal that the present swimming pool in Mullingar be turned into a museum when the new pool at Robinstown is open has been made by Cllr Bill Collentine.

He made his suggestion at the December meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, and the response from the council was that proposals for reuse of the swimming pool will be considered at a later stage. Cllr Collentine suggested a decision be made ahead of that, so people could start getting ready artefacts that could be displayed there. “We need to keep our history in town for future generations,” he said.

Cllr Ken Glynn backed Cllr Collentine’s motion, saying he would support a museum going in to the pool building “or any location”. “I think we have definitely need to start pushing for such a facility,” he said, as the town has a strong military history and there are people with relevant artefacts.

“We also have a rich music history, a rich sporting history – we have another world champion in sport. We’ve had Mullingar musicians represent the country at Eurovision level. We’ve had people that have millions of followers on social media, who have succeeded at a national level.”

Also supportive of the motion was Cllr Denis Leonard: “I think this is the time to be planning, and an awful lot of buildings around this country, when they were repurposed for anything, they were left empty,” he said, saying that there are even listed buildings that are state owned that are in that category.

Cllr Mick Dollard said he would not like to see the building empty. He felt it was an ideal solution given its location and the fact that it is in public ownership as well.

The view of Cllr Emily Wallace was that if the building was deemed suitable, plans should be put in place so the new swimming pool and the museum could be advanced hand in hand. She felt a museum was important so all that made people proud of Westmeath could be showcased.

Cllr Andrew Duncan admitted that while it was a good motion, he was “conflicted” on the question, as he had hoped the building might be used as a home for Mullingar’s four boxing clubs, only one of which currently has an even semi-permanent home. However, Mullingar does need a museum and it was important that a decision be made and that the building not be allowed fall into disrepair.

Cllr Hazel Smyth also had reservations, stating that while Mullingar did need a museum, she would like to see the old swimming pool used as a youth centre or a community centre.

The suitability of St Loman’s as a museum building was mooted by Cllr Frank McDermott, who said it offered “character, suitability and access”.

The cathaoirleach, Cllr John Shaw, complimented Cllr Collentine on the proposal, and added that he hoped the current swimming pool would become “the old pool” sooner rather than later.

He stated also that while there has for years been much talk about having a museum, “there never seemed to be any real work done in terms of how it will actually happen”.

“What do we want in the museum? There’s a mishmash of everything [talked about] between sport and music and transport; how viable it needs to be, how big, and who is going to fund it,” Cllr Shaw said, suggesting that in these early stages, these were the questions that should be decided.

Cllr Glynn also proposed that the council contact Mullingar Chamber of Commerce to find out their views on the topic.

Director of services, Deirdre Reilly, noted that there was great enthusiasm among councillors for a museum. “I think it is important that we have succession planning and it is important to have a programme of works if that’s something that you want to happen,” she said, stating that in the first instance, it would be advisable to discuss funding options with the arts and culture officer.

After that, she continued, it would be necessary to identify a location and to decide whether it should be a countywide museum rather than just a district museum.

Ms Reilly cautioned that it was “too early” to decide what should become of the old pool. She noted, however, that while there was no agreement on what use should be assigned to the old pool, there was agreement among members about the need for a museum in Westmeath.

“We just need to find a way of supporting you in that.”