Galway City Council has approved plans to develop new student accommodation on the site of the now closed Lantern Bar, previously known as the Lantern Inn.
The original Lantern Inn is set to be demolished in order to begin construction on the new accommodation, which will feature 32 student bed spaces and include 17 ensuite bedrooms on the upper floors of the four-storey development in Ballybane.
The development includes many shared spaces for residents such as a communal kitchen, dining area, living area, study room and a gym space.
The facility will also feature a roof terrace that will have restricted use between the hours of 8am to 8pm.
On the ground floor there will be a retail unit and also some facilities for residents. These will include a laundry room, bicycle storage, bin storage and a manager’s office. Outside of the accommodation there will be a communal outdoor area with covered seating.
The new accommodation, which was proposed by developers Glen Ward and Maureen McDonagh, will mainly be used as student accommodation during the academic year but will double as short-term accommodation for tourists during summer.
Galway City Council has made it a requirement that a qualified archaeologist will be present to monitor, due to the presence of a ringfort on the site.
The 1500-year-old ringfort is one of the oldest man-made structures in the city, leading some to describe it as “Galway’s Newgrange”.
Some locals from the area have raised concerns about the height and scale of the building, questioning possible overlooking and privacy issues for homes in the nearby Monivea Park estate, as well as concerns about whether the development could worsen parking problems in the area.
The developers have responded to these concerns by claiming the building will be constructed on the footprint of the former pub and that there will be a 34.4 metre distance between the development and nearby housing, exceeding the recommended guideline of 16 metres.
They have also stated that some gardens may experience minor overshadowing in the month of March, but that there will be no impact for the rest of the year.
