Works Started
Kilkenny LEADER Partnership is delighted that the long awaited day has arrived! Building works commenced on the building of the Old Boys School, Thomastown on Monday 21st July to transform it into the world class facility called “Food Campus Kilkenny” as part of the Town of Food Project funded through Kilkenny LEADER Partnership.
“Turning the Sod”
July 16th saw the ‘Turning of the Sod’ and marked the handing over of the School from the Thomastown Parish to the Town of Food Project. Present were representatives of the Parish, The Town of Food Board, Volunteers and former staff of the Boys’ National School.
“The First of It’s Kind in Ireland”
The first of its kind in Ireland, the Food Campus is a development of the dynamic food strategy aimed at developing County Kilkenny into a major Irish food destination. The establishment of Ireland’s first Artisan Food School will provide training, support and ongoing education programmes for new and existing food producers, and the development of a Food Incubation Centre for start-up companies. A community kitchen will also be located on the campus. The kitchen will be a state of the art production facility which can be rented therefore providing a production facility for new start up producers who have no premises, or those who have outgrown space in their own domestic kitchen and need a larger premises for a few hours per week . The units will provide incubation space for new start-up food enterprise and attract existing food enterprises with ambitious growth aspirations.
The Food Campus is the most critical element of the Food Strategy as education and training will be the catalysts for growth and business stability, which will underpin the model.
Well done to all who worked on getting the project this far; continued success in the future.
