Church which has given new life to Limerick city street wins prize

A CHURCH which took over a landmark building in Henry Street has won the annual Limerick Tidy Towns award for 2018.

The Abundant Life Church moved into the former Smyths Toys superstores building in the city centre last year, bringing to an end more than a decade of dereliction on that site.

It named the building ‘The Life Centre’ and spent thousands of euro transforming the interior and exterior.​

Now, their efforts have been recognised by Tidy Towns, which present monthly awards recognising the effort local companies go to to keep their units clean, and the impact they have on the surrounds.

The Life Centre church, which opened in May last, won the award for October, with Tidy Towns judges saying: “It’s wonderful to see such a large space rejuvenated so beautifully, especially in a way that brings so much activity to that part of the city.”

The Life Centre won an internet poll of all 11 monthly winners from 2018, which saw over 1,000 people vote.

Lead pastor Kevin Fitzgibbon was absolutely delighted with the prize, saying he feels the effort the church has made in bringing the building back to life has paid off.

“It was lying idle. I wouldn't say it was an eyesore as it is a nice building with a lovely glass front. We transformed it more on the inside and the outside, put some lovely new doors in there. With the new window front and the brightness of the place, it looks the part. It suits Henry Street the way it is developing at the moment,” he said.

The Abundant Life Church has long had an association with Henry Street. Before its move to the old Smyths building, it was located in Post Office Lane, and looked onto the back of the former Hanging Gardens site, which is now home to a multi-million euro office development.

“We love Limerick, we definitely do. We are not new to wanting Limerick be a better place to live, show off its fantastic buildings whether they are old or new. We take huge pride in the cleanliness of our streets,” Pastor Fitzgibbon told the Limerick Leader.

The church picked up the annual award at a special ceremony in No 1 Pery Square Hotel.

Limerick Tidy Towns meet twice a week – on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings – to give the city streets a clean-up.

Maura O’Neill of the group said: “We were delighted to see a number of new faces join the ranks in 2018 as well as some local residents coming out to help clean up their own areas. We hope that events like this evening will encourage more people to join us or indeed just to keep their own properties looking well, which is really what these monthly awards are all about.”