A DRAMATIC viewing tower and a large eight-screen cinema as well as a courthouse will be among the key features of plans for a €100 million development on the former Great Southern Hotel lands alongside Killarney railway station.
The planned development is seen as a major vote of confidence in the Kerry town.
The plans by local businessmen for the 14-acre site of Station Square were unveiled yesterday. They include up to 1,200 underground car spaces and the relocation of a small public cultural centre.
The current well-known conference facilities, along with the spa and leisure club at the Malton Hotel, the former Great Southern, will also be replaced.
The 300-foot viewing tower, which will overlook the town, will be just under the height of Killarney's current tallest building, the spire of St Mary's Cathedral.
It is intended that the tower will host press launches and other events, which is in line with consultants' recommendations made for Killarney in 2005.
The design is being undertaken by international architects HKR "to complement the garden setting of the Malton and Park hotels", local hotelier Padraig Treacy, who has been one of the key drivers of the project, said yesterday.
The other project partners are Killarney construction and development company Sunday's Well Properties, of which the directors are Michael O'Shea and Risteard O'Lionaird.
A split-level shopping centre of 18,000 square metres will add to the considerable retail development currently under way in Killarney. This will result in the town's retail space being quadrupled in the next two years.
The development will be adjacent to the covered Killarney Outlet Centre.
The plans include a large retail park in an adjacent site near the railway and bus stations along with other developments.
Next May the retail giant Marks & Spencer is to open a flagship Kerry store in the Tesco retail park.
The A-listed Malton Hotel was purchased by Mr Treacy and his wife, Janet, and the Sunday's Well directors in September 2006. Planning permission has not been applied for yet.
However, a submission to the new town development plan by the project company BL Beara said the status of Killarney town "for commercial development" had to be reinforced. The existing rail and bus transport hub presented a major development opportunity and it asked for more retail space in the plan.