The owners of the Seapoint Leisure complex in Salthill are seeking permission to demolish another building as part of a previously approved major redevelopment of the centre.

Oldside Enterprises Ltd was granted planning permission in 2023 for a new casino, café and overhead apartments.

Involving the redevelopment of numbers 183, 185, 187 and 189 Upper Salthill, the plan would see the demolition and clearance of all structures on site — with the exception of the original 1949 ballroom building and glass elevator, and the frame of No 183.

Now, the company is seeking permission to also demolish No 183 entirely and replace it with a new building, claiming that it is in too poor a condition to redevelop it.

The overall redevelopment of the other buildings, which are all currently occupied by Seapoint, will see them replaced by a new three-storey structure with arcade/gaming use on the ground and first floor and apartments on the second floor, as well as a new three-storey building attached to form a new side facing Salthill Promenade, This building will include a café at ground level and an apartment overhead.

The proposed new building to replace No 183 will be incorporated into the rest of the approved development, with the existing first and second floors to be replaced b y one new floor, with all floors to be used as an arcade/casino/leisure centre/games hall.

A report by Consulting Engineers Coyle Kennedy accompanying the latest planning application said that while refurbishment of the existing building was technically possible, the scale and depth of intervention required would result in the effective removal of most of the existing structure and extensive disturbance to the remaining fabric.

“The extent of works necessary to bring the building into compliance with current building regulations and to ensure a further 50-plus-year design life would be economically and practically unjustified.

“Demolition of the existing building and construction of a new replacement structure represents the most rational and proportionate engineering solution,” it added.

Seapoint is owned by Paul Freeney and his father Myles, from Co Wicklow.

Galway City Council will make a decision on the planning application by February 21.

Pictured: The side and rear view of the new development.