Re: Re: South Great George’s Street

To the best of my knowledge the site is still owned by Dunnes Stores. If I remember correctly, they wanted to clear the whole site for redevelopment, but the Long Hall pub wouldn’t budge. Aside from being a Protected Structure, it is held in some sort of trust by the staff – left to them by the owner – which prevents them from selling it. I’m hazy on the details- anyone know any more? So Dunnes had to incorporate it into their rejigged scheme. Can’t have been easy for the pub, particularly when all around it was being excavated; pity the foundations. Don’t know whether the two redbricks nearer the corner are PSs, though.
The buildings there prior to this new one were a mixture of relatively decent and somewhat non-descript three- and four-storey nineteenth century (?) ones which Dunnes had been systematically buying up over the course of a few years and allowing to fall into dereliction- presumably they’ve had plans for the site for a number of years. And any city council would prefer a shiny new corporate hq to a row of tatty, unloved old shops… There was also a fire in the late 1990s between the Dunlop building and the corner of George’s St- two (possibly) Georgians? I have print photos at home somewhere of the corner pre-redevelopment- I’ll try to get them on here somehow.
I’m glad they kept the Dunlop one, but I’m not convinced by that top-heavy glazed area above, and though the new George’s St building admittedly has its merits, it’s yet another example of the scaling up of the city centre by stealth. I’d be a happier camper if the facade had been slightly more modelled to reflect the original plot divisions.