Capel steet to be ACA

Well there goes Utopia!

. . . and . . bye . .bye . . Good Vibrations!

I dont think they can actually get rid of existing businesses, they can just prevent new ones opening if they are deemed unsuitable.

Why cant the entire city centre be an ACA???

@archipig wrote:

I dont think they can actually get rid of existing businesses, they can just prevent new ones opening if they are deemed unsuitable.

That’s about right, alright.

ah sex shops bring a bit of oul colour to a city – mostly red, black and pink (in my limited experience)

@alonso wrote:

mostly red, black and pink

By a curious coincidence…

The type of retail unit is more of a planning issue so Im not sure an ACA would stop sex shops once they had shop fronts that were relatively well designed. Its all about the exterior appearance of the building, not the goings on inside!

@blaise wrote:

The type of retail unit is more of a planning issue so Im not sure an ACA would stop sex shops once they had shop fronts that were relatively well designed. Its all about the exterior appearance of the building, not the goings on inside!

True, but often an area is made an ACA as a means of it then being designated as a Scheme of Special Planning Control (An area has to be an ACA before it can get designated for a Scheme of Special Planning Control). As has been mentioned, this cannot stop particular land-uses from continuing, but it can attempt to stop new ones from opening, and it is also aimed at altering the general land-use of the designated area in the long-term. I would be surprised if this area was not designated as an SSPC in the coming year or so.

Is it the case that Capel Street will not be designated an SPCA? I think I heard that catching the end of a news bulletin last week, but am not sure.

All of the hyperbole over adult shops is ridiculous anyway. Whereas it is undesirable to have a proliferation of such uses, a discreet number add variety to the retail offering, while contrary to popular belief, some of these stores host amongst the very best contemporary shopfronts in the city such as the new outlet on Eustace Street. The problem with them is that by definition they tend to be inward looking. Provided they address the street, and in an appropriate manner, there isn’t a major issue.

In any event, given the spectacular success of the O’Connell Street/Westmoreland Street/D’Olier Street/College Street/Hawkins Street/Bachelors Walk/Marlborough Street/Parnell Street/Parnell Square ACA (yes believe it or not they’re all actually an ACA), we can rest assured that Capel Street will soon rank amongst these illustrious, immaculately presented and rigourously controlled thoroughfares.

And a very good point archipig – there is no reason whatever why every major street in the city shouldn’t be an ACA. All an ACA does is promote basic presentation standards which arguably should be in force in any urban area.

@GrahamH wrote:

Is it the case that Capel Street will not be designated an SPCA? I think I heard that catching the end of a news bulletin last week, but am not sure.

If this is true, I stand corrected. I suppose I have just got so used to this being the process that DCC have followed with all the other ACA’s in Dublin City Centre, and from a newspaper report a few weeks ago about Capel Street that was the impression I got. I am not definite on this though, so will accept correction if it is not to happen.

Perhaps enforcement should be enhanced before we go adding any more streets to this utterly pointless [in practice] list.

I see the Sierra crew are out, just round the corner from the bottom of Capel Street on Ormond Quay Upper… a few granite curbs seem to be up…

proabably a desperate need for more poles

@StephenC wrote:

proabably a desperate need for more poles

Thems paddys love their poles…

The revamp of Capel Street creeps on at a moderate pace. It is amazing what a makeover can do. Those areas of the street that are complete look really well while the yet to be touched section is grim.
It seems Wallace have been witched for the ubiquitous Sierra..but in fairness they seem to work faster.

I like the lamps and the refreshing absence of lines of bollards. Signage seem to be at a minimum although the ridiculous pedestrian crossings are overkill.

One gripe though is the area being completed at Grattan Bridge. Its being relaid exactly the same as the old…no attempt to reinvent the space or make better use of it. Surely a good spot here for one of the new map/signage units that are promised by JCDecaux.

Around the corner is an application for the site that includes St Mary’s Abbey although the develoment doesnt affect the Chapter House. Much of the derelcit buildings here are up for demolition. I’ll add some details later.

Although the (truly enormous) development also appears to include the demolition of part of a symmetrical set-piece of Victorians on Capel Street itself, which is of obvious concern. Great news about the rest of the scheme though as it entails the redevelopment of signifcant amounts of wasteland and 20th century warehousing. The 10 storey element is a shot in the dark.

I like the new lamp standards, if not quite the lamps themselves. Their design is somewhat surprising actually in light pollution terms – plucked straight out of the 80s with their virtually unshielded globes casting light upwards. They also contain rather ridculous 20w domestic CFLs (I read the boxes as they were going in) which give off a dull glow. But the standards do mark a departure from the typically poor repros we’re used to in Dublin.

The rusty paving is beautiful and very well crafted. I would question the setting-in-amber mentality of preserving lines of kerbstones stranded in the middle of some of the new widened pavements, which just looks silly – this is a method that should apply to paving slabs only. The kerbs should be laid as the new kerb line.

Fully agreed about the Ormonde Quay corner. There was a bit of a hooha there the other morning when about five contractors were standing around shaking their heads at an entire stretch of newly paved area that had to be dug up again. Oops.

@GrahamH wrote:

Although the (truly enormous) development also appears to include the demolition of part of a symmetrical set-piece of Victorians on Capel Street itself, which is of obvious concern. Great news about the rest of the scheme though as it entails the redevelopment of signifcant amounts of wasteland and 20th century warehousing. The 10 storey element is a shot in the dark.

I see from a story posted elsewhere that DCC are insisting on a spot of real archaeology here and not just the usual armchair . . sorry . . ‘Desktop’ . . study!

A step in the right direction, or just another opportunity for them to plough through the ‘Billy’ layers to get at the good stuff in the medieval levels below :rolleyes:

On the possibility of more recent archaeology, I was told a story once in connection with this site which had to do with the 19th century bakery that sits above much of St. Mary’s Abbey. The bakery building belonged to Bolands before they moved to the bigger premises (of 1916 fame) at Grand Canal Street and Barrow Street. Apparently their great iron bakery ovens had been constructed in the basement of the building and while the building was susequently deemed to be too small for their expanding needs, the ovens were considered to be state of the art. In deciding to move to bigger premises, possibly to take advantage of the departure of Jacobs to Liverpool in 1913 (not sure about the dates) Bolands faced a huge dilemma on what to do with their ovens which were too big to take out. Not willing to let them fall into the hands of a rival, in the end, they decided to entomb the ovens by filling the whole vaulted basement with concrete.

This could just be a piece of Dublin lore, but on the other hand, it could just as easily be true, in which case it could be a nice little layer of history to uncover.

And present us with the same bloody dilemma!

Great story though. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of it.

13/2/2010

Chaos on Capel Street.

The fire that broke out in the street’s notorious ‘head shop’ on Friday morning has resulted in the complete destruction of the twin plot single-storey building on the corner with Little Strand Street which also hosted an adult store. The more substantial two-storey truncated building next door (white facade) has also been largely destroyed.

Initial impressions suggest the remains of an early corner chimneystack in the centre of the site, but it’s difficult to be sure. One thing is clear – effort was not originally expended on internal walls! There is nearly as much mortar as there is brick.

The remains of mid-19th century windows and shuttering to the adjacent premises.

Poor Capel Street needs this complete closure like a hole in the head, if you’ll excuse the pun. I don’t see why the right-hand pavement could not have been kept open for access. The place was utterly desolate for what was the busiest Saturday in Dublin since Christmas.

If there is one benefit to be derived from this, it is that the horrendous truncated buildings with established shopfronts and signage are dead and buried in what is now an ACA. It affords a heartening opportunity for a creative new building that is both infill and a corner-former. Here’s hoping every one of the typical solutions employed on such sites in the capital over the past decade is avoided in this instance.

At least we know that the street can look fairly appeasing without all the nice kerbs hidden my 4×4’s..

The irony that the shop with fireplaces didn’t burn down.

@GrahamH wrote:

13/2/2010

I don’t see why the right-hand pavement could not have been kept open for access. The place was utterly desolate for what was the busiest Saturday in Dublin since Christmas.

Might have something to to with the half a million squids the Gardaí found in a safe under all the rubble.

Great photos by the way Graham. Its the first time I’ve seen the extent of the damage.