Re: Re: TCD’s €100m development plan

@tommyt wrote:

I feel they have the corpo over a barrel on this one.Would have liked to have seen the city CPO a lot of TCD’s property (especially their ‘temporary ‘surface car park opposite Westland Sq) but it must not be feasible for whatever reason…
TCDinc. do not give a f**k about Dublin or the vast majority of its inhabitants who are of no economic use to them
Junkies are not the whole of the problem for Pearse st.,There are actually more junkies loitering around the other methadone clinic on lwr Abbey st. but they are not as conspicuos because of the higher footfall in that area.
overall it is a dilemma and it is a pity to think in this now prosperous city there is still compromises potentially to be made vis a vis conservation/regeneration. It will be very interesting to see how it pans out.

I agree with you on the Junkies issue, the area around Lower Abeey St and Marlborough Place in particular really is beyond a joke.

I also agree that there need to be compromises in certain circumstances between conservation and regeneration. Campions Bar on North Wall Quay being a perfect example of a single structure of no particular merit being in the way.

But on the subject of Pearse St I can’t see any overwhealming argument to demolish historical structures in good structural order to put in an institutional facade. This entire proposal goes to land use, and TCD are proposing to replace one educational use with another. There is no compelling urban economic argument.

This area is 500 metres from O’Connell Bridge and no account is being given to the significant retail potential that must exist on that basis. In addition the Macken St Bridge will divert much of the existing traffic flows from this section of Pearse St making it a more pleasant pedestrian environment. To design a scheme that ignores this potential is wasteful and given that the existing structures can provide this they should remain and be renovated.

What TCD need to do is unbrick the facades