A community fund has been launched to rebuild the Buncrana Plaza venue following a major fire on Sunday night.
The people of Buncrana were stunned to see the iconic building gutted in a blaze, which also tore through John Barr’s drapery store.
The loss of the popular Plaza ballroom and concert venue was seen as a major blow to Buncrana’s entertainment scene, with many other spin-off businesses said to be affected by the closure.
Now, there are fresh hopes that the Plaza can be brought back to its former glory.
A GoFundMe page was quickly set up in the aftermath of the fire to gather community donations for a rebuild. The target has been set at €250,000.
The McDaid family, who manage the Plaza, said they have been overwhelmed by the support they have received.
Sonia McDaid, the daughter of manager Ursula, posted a statement of the family’s heartache on the morning after the fire:
She said: “Instead of updating our page for this weekend’s entertainment we sit here and write this status with nothing but heart break and devastation.
“Myself (Sonia) and my family along with our mum Ursula who yous all know has given nothing but her heart and soul to this building throughout the years has spent the night in Buncrana watching our Plaza gushing with flames to then burn to the ground with not one thing we could do.
“For me and definitely mum the Plaza was much more than just a building it was more like a home than anything to us with the amount of time we spent there!”
@theplazabuncrana
The original Plaza hall was opened in 1944, with the main ballroom opening in 1958. Over the decades, the venue was a hotspot for music and dancing with many happy memories made in its halls. The building underwent a revival again in the 1990s and was a popular country music hall, live events venue and hub for local fundraisers.
Sonia recalled how Ursula worked tirelessly to restore the building and bring it back to life: “I’ve never seen another person believe in a building so much as what she did for the Plaza.”
The closure of the building this week was described as a huge loss for Buncrana and the ‘end of an era’ for thousands of people who enjoyed events there.
The ‘New Plaza’ fund has so far gathered over €1,000 in donations.
The community fundraising team are hopeful that they can raise enough to help rebuild the much-loved venue, saying: “Everybody enjoyed the plaza over the past 70 years whether it was a kids birthday, music gig, comedy night, Strictly Come Dancing, wedding night, divine mercy, Stars in Their Eyes or ballroom dancing on the famous solid oak sprung floor. Unfortunately all those memories are now under threat.
“Well all is not lost. The Plaza Team are not about to give up. In fact they see an opportunity for a New Plaza better than ever before. Lets fund this campaign to show how much we want our Plaza back again.”
Visit the GoFundMe page at: ie.gofundme.com/build-new-plaza
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