Irish Cultural Centre awarded $500,000 federal grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York Congressmen Sweeney and Walsh secure monies to upgrade former manufacturing facility to small business incubator and specialty retail center

East Durham, N.Y. (Feb., 19, 2003) - Funds totaling a half-million dollars were awarded to the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural & Sports Centre as part of a mass budget bill approved by the United States Congress, the Centre announced today.

The grant -- part of a $397 billion federal spending plan that passed the Congress on Thursday, Feb. 13 -- is being issued through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Monies will be used for improvements to a long abandoned former electronics plant on Route 145, which will one day be home to a retail center and small business incubator.

"Our local Congressman, John Sweeney, was instrumental in securing the funding for the Centre," said Ken Dudley, president of the non-profit organization in East Durham. "This grant is the single largest infusion of money in the Centre's 16-year history, and will help us move closer to our vision of building a tourist center that will attract thousands of visitors each year."

Congressman James Walsh (R-Syracuse), a senior leader of the House appropriations committee that allocates federal tax dollars, was a key supporter of the Centre's proposal. He is a recognized leader of Irish and Irish-American causes in the Congress.

"The Irish Centre is truly an exciting project that I'm proud to be a part of," said Rep. Sweeney (R-Clifton Park). "The Centre is poised to serve as an attractive tourism hub for the area, one that will bring more commerce and economic activity to the area."

The Centre is in the process of acquiring the Becker Electronics manufacturing site, which will become the main entrance to the proposed Irish Village. The vision is to convert Becker's main warehouse into commercial retail and specialty Irish shops. Initial plans for the SBA grant are to provide small business training and equipment at the site for aspiring entrepreneurs, plus low cost or free space for start-up businesses, most likely specialty shops and services. These businesses would generally be ones that cater to tourists who attend the Cultural Centre's programs and the future Irish Village East Durham.

The former manufacturing plant is located next to the Centre's headquarters at Weldon House on Route 145 in East Durham. The Becker facility is on about 6 acres of land, and was once Greene County's largest employer manufacturing high fidelity speakers and speaker components. It shut down in 1988 after the company declared bankruptcy.

The Becker property will greatly benefit the Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural Centre in its development of the first Irish living-history museum in the United States. When completed, Irish Village East Durham will be representative of life in a village in the province of Munster between 1860 and 1870, with interpreters dressed in the style of the times and going about their character lives as they would had they lived at the time. The goal is to finish the village by 2007. The $17-million project will be similar to a smaller version of Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

Grant details will be worked out with SBA over the summer with funding available in late summer/early fall.

Contact:

Ken Dudley, President
Michael J. Quill Irish Cultural & Sports Centre
518-634-2286