Douglas Hall A.F.C. Cork, Ireland

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Development Progessing

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Pitch Development June 2008 was the culmination of almost 2 years planning, with the first sod turned for the development of our all-weather floodlit pitch. The club had realised that it was necessary to upgrade playing facilities with serious pressure from all sides to improve. This was well recognised and following due process, in October 2006, it was decided to develop a full sized, floodlit, all-weather pitch to enable Douglas Hall to accomodate all requirements and move the club's playing facilities significantly forward.

	The new pitch is located approximately where our second and schoolboy pitches were previously. Because of size constraints, it has been necessary to use the space where these pitches were to accomodate the new pitch. At 100m x 64m, it will be as big as any pitch in the locality. When the run-off of 3m and pathways 2m wide are added in, there will be an overall area of 110m x 69m used up. We are very fortunate to have such an area avaialable, allowing construction of the new pitch without interference with either the existing number 1 pitch or the all-weather training/5-aside pitches.
Work has been proceeding apace, even allowing for the dreadful summer we've had. The pitch location is clearly taking shape, as drainage and fencing is build up, giving a clearer outline of how the final construction will be. It will be difficult to fully appreciate the extent and potential of the facility until floodlight and carpet installation gets underway. Current scheduling suggests that the pitch construction will be virtually complete by the beginning of October, 2008. We hope to be playing competitive fixtures on the pitch early in October and that will be a very welcome step forward for the club.
	A further piece of significant development was also undertaken during the summer of 2008. Arising from a need in the local community, the club was happy to allow the development of temporary primary school accomodation for the Rochestown area. The local community is moving through the planning process for construction of a permanent residence, but in the meantime, they needed to develop a temporary location and premises. Douglas Hall AFC was the ideal match, and accordingly, the school premises have been developed at our grounds. This will prove to be mutually beneficial as significant development and re-design work was needed to get the school set up. The original gate and hedging has been replace by a very neat fencing system which undoubtedly enhances the Douglas Hall image.
A further enhancement is the construction of the prefabricated schoolrooms for Scoil Phádraig Naofa in a corner of the car park. This has added a new fenced-off area in the car park. Considering the scale of this particular development, the club has retained much of the car park and has certainly gained a significantly improved external fence. As well, the new fenced-off section of the car park could well prove of benefit to the club going forward.