Re: Re: Limerick Boat Club ~ Wellesley Pier ~ Poor Man’s Kilkee ~ Sarsfield Bridge

23rd December 2006
@CologneMike wrote:

Multi-million plan for Limerick Boat Club (Limerick Leader)

Interesting proposals for the Limerick Boat and Club house (red brick buildings), just off the Sarsfield Bridge.
Question: Will “Poor Man’s Kilkee” remain an open green space?

Include a museum, coffee shops, tourist information services, facilities for the theatre and the arts.

Question: Will we have two tourist information centres or does this have consequences for Arthur’s Quay????
Question: I presume it also includes a new Club and Boat House?
Question: Is the site large enough for all these activities?
Question: Will Cheebah’s “Roots” be able to return to use the Arts / Theatre facilities? http://cheebah.typepad.com/

A new pedestrian bridge linking the facility to Harvey’s Quay and up onto the newly pedestrianised Bedford Row.

Question: This probably means “Poor Man’s Kilkee“ and Wellesley Pier (Limerick Boat Club) will be bridged?
Question: Will a bridge here not restrict boats entering / leaving the Abbey Weir to the Shannon?

It is not going to be enormous.

Question: Will it complement the bridge?
Question: Will it affect the view of the Shannon Boat Club on the other side?

The architects engaged in the development are led by a former oarsman from Queens University Rowing Club and have a wealth of experience in similar ambitious urban design projects.

Question: Access to Wellesley Pier from Sarsfield Bridge to be maintained?
Question: Will it affect the location of the 1916 Memorial 😉 (Former Fitzgibbon Statue) on the Bridge?

Image # 1: Entrance to Boat club left of the 1916 Memorial.

Image # 2: Former Fitzgibbon Statue: Boat and Club House in background.

Image # 3: View of Limerick Boat Club from Harvey’s Quay.

Image # 4: View of Quays. Pedestrianised it has great potential as Limerick’s “Recreational mile”.

23rd December 2006
@justnotbothered wrote:

The Boat Club plan has all the hallmarks of a “please everyone, please no-one” construction. As with every development on the river, it purports to be all things to all people, a cultural amenity, a sportsclub, a tourist site, a coffee house, and yet it won’t be “enormous”, how exactly? How does it either complement the river or the city? With the university building a top class rowing facility, does Limerick need this or has the boat club ended as a useful institution in the city? We already have Athlunkard, Shannon and St. Micheals as city-centre rowing clubs. Why should the current buildings be de-listed?

Why build on the river? There are so many sites and streets in Limerick in need for refurbishment, why risk losing one of unique buildings in Limerick when so much has already been lost? Why does the ESB site remain undeveloped? Or the old Dunnes? Surely the council should be working on these areas before delisting historic buildings?

What’s incredibly worrying is the implied compliance by the city council, we know they are very easily influenced by developers, evidenced by Cllr’s Jim Long’s hilarious flip-flopping over the Westfields plan, though I believe it was ignorant good intentions more than anything sinister, or the Opera centre, where it was left to an independant architect to appeal the needless destruction of a Georgian street, inspite of what may be called developers bribes to her. Have our City Fathers become so desperate for development that virtually every development must go unchecked? Limerick is definately an imporiving city, there’s no doubting that, but let’s hold on to some of the historic buildings of our city.

23rd December 2006
@CologneMike wrote:

@justnotbothered wrote:

The Boat Club plan has all the hallmarks of a “please everyone, please no-one” construction. As with every development on the river, it purports to be all things to all people, a cultural amenity, a sportsclub, a tourist site, a coffee house, and yet it won’t be “enormous”, how exactly? How does it either complement the river or the city?

Where is your sense of curiosity when somebody makes a proposal for such a potential cultural amenity? Would it not be fair to give the Limerick Boat Club and the developer Michael Daly an opportunity to present their plans first to the public. It’s one thing raising concerns about the consequences of any particular development, but it’s not positive to knock it outright before seeing what’s on offer. Innovatively and quality wise he has delivered very well on phase one of the Riverpoint. So when he says “What we are aiming to achieve is a building which is sensitive to its surroundings, that is tastefully done and that will enchance the riverside city development,” explained Michael Daly, Developer, Fordmount Property Group”, I’m curious to see despite my own reservations, what he will present. Are you not?

23rd December 2006
@justnotbothered wrote:

I’m sad to say my sense of curiosity evapourated with my trust in developers a long time ago. Let’s not forget that while Riverpoint is a very impressive building to look from a distance, at ground level it is the usual mesh of vents that ensure the street remains lifeless, sadly, it’s ugliest floor is also it’s street level floor.

Perhaps I am being unfair, it just seems that everytime someone wants to build on the river they drag out the same tired cultural improvements line, the city falls for it, and 9 months later we have an Arthur’s Quay or a Steamboat Quay and the only culture involved is the ever decresing faith in developers.

Also, with the university building a top class rowing faciity, with 3city centre rowing clubs, I find it hard to have much sympathy for those who let Limerick Boat Club fall in to such disrepair that such dramatic surgery is needed.

All in all, I think the view of LBC, Shannon Boatclub with the castle in the backround, from the Shannon bridge, is an iconic view of Limerick, and doesn’t need much improvement or destruction. Talk to me about development where it is needed and you’ll get my full support.