Re: Re: well what about the developments popping up in the shannonside ?
So all in all – a big thimbs sideways from you jimg! Have to agree with you on a number of points, nice job on the lights on O’Connell St. – the overall state of the footpaths does create a fairly unloved look about the place – however I imagine that the city council are waiting til the Shannon Tunnel is complete before embarking with their extensive plans for improving the streetscape in 2009. Bedford Row and Baker Place are just test runs in this regard.
Have to agree too that there does seem to be a new found energy in the city city centre in recent years which will only become more evident as new developments come on stream. I can only hope the qualtiy of design improves drastically soon before it’s all finished. Counted at least twelve tower cranes in the city centre during Christmas and the height of the two on the old Jurys site seem to indicate that what ever is planned is going to be relatively tall, although the model of the scheme that was on display in Jury’s before it was knocked didn’t include any tower element – as far as I recall.
It’s a pity that the areas further away from the river are lagging behind – Upper William St. and Parnell St. in particular have a large number of vacant premises and “to let” signs.
Is there anyone else who thinks riverpoint is receiving a god deal more praise than it merits, on this thread? That image from BKD is a little more attractive than the reality in my opinion, but will have to come back with a few photos in a couple of weeks to make the point.
As for the proposed new shopping centre on Patrick St. – called the planning dep’t before Christmas with a view towards taking a look at it during the holidays – was told that the council would be open for business on thursday 30/12 but there was no sign of life there when i called in. Not impressed! and won’t be around to see it before the deadline for observation etc. runs out. The planning notices on the actual site indicate that Quins pub is to be renovated, which isn’t a bad thing. However the amount of demolition proposed for Parick St. is a bit scary. Don’t know much about the buildings in that area and some of the them are in pretty bad shape – original Georgian facades on the lower floors of some of them have disappeared entirely and can only be described as nasty. They all have plaques from the Civic trust on them though indicating some signifiacant links to the past – why couldn’t a portion of the 200 million investent be devoted to restoring this street? As for the name – the Opera Centre? there might be a connection with the Dundrum Centre – where piped classical music is played in the “urban square” to indicate the CLASSy nature of the surroundings, couldn’t make out the civic trust plaques which may suggest some connection. I certainly hope the designers/ developer provide us with something more interesting than Dundrum whatever happens . Also noticed on the site notices that an environmental impact statement has been submitted as part of the planning application, but there was no mention of the fact that the development involved protected buildings – does anyone know what that’s about? If there is no mention of protected structures which are involved in the proposal surely the whole application is invalid?
