Parnell Square redevelopment

Aaah springtime in Dublin: the leaves beginning to open on trees, the freshly planted baskets and planters, the old spruce up before the start of the big tourist summer……

And on Parnell Square, the installation of some nice new useless bollards to clutter yet another corner of Dublin’s Fair City.

Don’t fall off the path!!!!

The bollards complement the ranks of bus stops, a number of which only serve one route. Also add in a smattering of RTPI poles.

Visual clutter abounds. Archiseekers with long memories might remember the spanking new public realm proposed for Parnell Square under the 2005 Framework Plan that never was. Thankfully DCC Roads department continues to make some much needed investment in the area.

I would almost be inclined to agree (if it wasn’t for your signage being a) a hideous but now commonplace defacement of a protected structure, b) probably unauthorised, and c) surely in breach of the regulations concerning election advertisements). Then again the laws of the 26 county statelet never did apply to Sinn Fein.

Around the corner on the charmingly named Cavendish Row and North Frederick Street, the commitment to quality continues:

DCC applying a little less vigour to protecting a protected structure than to adorning city streets with municipal clutter.

One of the area’s landmark structures…made famous by the Malton print (one display nearby). This is the view for recent high profile visitors such as Albert of Monaco and of course QEII on their way to the Garden of Remembrance.

Shopfront Guidelines anyone?

Agreed Kefu, but , I suppose its no surprise! The last time the City was in such a state was the 1980s. Look at the similarities, a dreadful economic cricis and acres of vacant city centre sites that had been put together by development site assemblers in the brief boom of the late 1970s.

Then again, even during more affulent times there was very little care or maintainence of properties. Alot of Irish people want the rights that go with property but not the responsibilities. Just look in suburban areas how many people have the inside of their houses decorated lavishly but their from garden is like a rubbish tip or garage forcourt!:)

The reputation of Parnell Street is so bad that it will take alot for it to ever recover. In a sense its never been right since Dublin Corporation pulled it apart for road widening over 30 years ago. Its even entered lingua franca as a definition of dereliction….several times when talking to foreigners such as Polish/Lithuanian etc about their hiome Cities , I have noticed when they want to convey the idea of an area that is run down, dangerous or seedy they refer to it as “like Parnell St”!!:)

C

Looks like Cavendish Row is next for the bollards

‘Oriental enclave’ recommended for Dublin

OLIVIA KELLY

DERELICTION AND urban blight which have dogged one of Dublin’s historic inner city areas could be reversed if an oriental quarter were developed on Parnell Street according to a report by the Dublin Civic Trust.

The report recommends restoration of the traditional 18th and 19th century facades, the removal of garish shopfronts and signage, new paving, lighting and trees on Parnell Street East and the creation of an off-street “oriental enclave” or village of restaurants and shops.

Commissioned by the Dublin City Business Association and Carroll’s Gifts and Souvenirs, the report criticises the “disfigurement” of the street through demolition and low-quality additions, and accuses Dublin City Council of failing to enforce planning regulations and follow through on several planned regeneration schemes for the area. Parnell Street East, running from O’Connell Street to Gardiner Street has 13 listed buildings many of which had been allowed to decline with the loss of historic joinery, windows and masonry and the addition of inappropriate elements such as PVC windows, garish paintwork, and plastic and illuminated signage. In some cases buildings lay vacant and semi-derelict but in other cases the original frontages were just hidden by modern additions and could be restored relatively easily.

Commercial activity on the street had increased over the last decade due to the influx of “ethnic businesses” attracted by low rents, but the report says “this belies the serious and long-standing problems of a lack of investment and continued degradation of its historic building stock”.

While the new-found vibrancy of the street was welcome it had become a “transient immigrant district” with a high turnover and diminishing diversity of businesses. The turnover of users was causing degradation of the fabric of buildings with short-term tenants having little interest in undertaking capital improvements.

It was also clear, the report said, that some businesses change the use or undertake developments of a building without recourse to the planning system. The lack of planning enforcement on the street was evident in the number of historic buildings falling into dereliction. Two of the most important Georgian houses on the Street, numbers 76 and 78, were in a particularly poor condition, the report says.

“Further decay is inevitable if efforts are not made by Dublin City Council to identify the owners and seek remedial works.”

The city council had also failed to maintain the public realm of the street which was “dismal when one considers its location off the premier thoroughfare of a European capital.” Lighting and street furniture was “ugly and utilitarian”, and pavements were poorly maintained and “pockmarked” with tarmac patches.

The report envisages investment by the council in the public realm and enforcement of planning legislation, while business and property owners would restore shopfronts and buildings with traditional designs and complementary new buildings.

It also plans for the creation of a new “oriental enclave” in a block bounded by North Cumberland Street, Marlborough Street and Cathal Brugha Street. The “Village” could showcase Asian architecture and design and serve as a restaurant and shopping emporium “without unduly impacting on the sensitive surrounding streets and historic area”.

Colm Carroll, a property owner on Parnell Street said the business and property owners had agreed to invest in the street and while talks with the council are at an early stage, it had “given support to our aspirations”.

Oriental food quarter branding would attract people, but the historic nature of the buildings would be respected he said.

Suggestions made by former lord mayor Gerry Breen that a Chinese Arch should be erected at the entrance of the street were “unlikely to be a runner”, Mr Carroll said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1013/1224305705635.html

notjim is right, ‘Oriental enclave’ is not exactly PC, they should have run with Chinatown

@notjim wrote:

“Oriental enclave”. For the love of all that’s holy what kind of report uses a word, “Oriential”, that is regarded as the symbol of a patronizing and exoticizing attitude to Asians to suggest making an “enclave” to “showcase Asian architecture and design and serve as a restaurant and shopping emporium”!

Haha, it’s a UK / American differentiation isn’t it? In the UK the Pakistani 711 attack suspects were of “Asian” origin. But in America “Asian” mafia dons were controversially moved up the liver transplant list in the hope of info on fellow Japanese mafiosi.

There are some very good ideas in that report about what should be done around Parnell Sq. I was initially disconcerted by the lack of lanterns, neon signs and pagoda-style awnnings which are normally associated with Chinatowns but the emphasis on brickwork makes sense given that it is one of the strengths of Dublin architecture. Whether or not DCC, the Government or the traders themselves pick up on the Civic Trust’s ideas it is nonetheless crucial that we do successfully develop this Chinatown. The whole area north of Talbot Street and south of Parnell St. should be developed into a series of ethnic quarters to give a platform to the cosmopolitanism of our city.

17th November, sees the next “Thursday Lunchtime Conversations in darcspace”

Dublin Civic Trust will lead a discussion on their recent report ‘Parnell Street East: A Vision for an Historic City Centre Street’ with Dr Sandra O’Connell is the ‘host/facilitator’. The lunch event coincides with the current exhibition at darc space, which marks the publication of the Trust’s thought-provoking report, setting out a vision for Parnell Street East. The exhibition runs until the 18th November and was opened on 3 November by Dublin City Architect Ali Grehan.

The lunch-time discussion (1-2pm) will explore how one of the city’s most central yet most forgotten thoroughfares could become once more a vibrant commercial and residential centre. However it will also raise wider, important questions on how, in light of major government cutbacks, individuals and organisations can bring about positive change on all levels – from small interventions to the large city scale.

The event is freebut as places are limited please contact us to book in: info@darcspace.ie

Lunch is kindly sponsored by Carrolls Gift Stores, who have also sponsored the exhibition and, with the DCBA, also sponsored the report.

Ya wait years for an applications for Parnell Street that might suggest a change of attitude to a street in almost terminal decline and this is what you get http://www.dublincity.ie/AnitePublicDocs/00363858.pdf

Thankfully refused http://www.dublincity.ie/swiftlg/apas/run/WPHAPPDETAIL.DisplayUrl?theApnID=2142/12&theTabNo=2&backURL=%3Ca%20href=wphappcriteria.display?paSearchKey=1742720%3ESearch%20Criteria%3C/a%3E%20%3E%20%3Ca%20href=’wphappsearchres.displayResultsURL?ResultID=2153346%26StartIndex=1%26SortOrder=APNID:asc%26DispResultsAs=WPHAPPSEARCHRES%26BackURL=%3Ca%20href=wphappcriteria.display?paSearchKey=1742720%3ESearch%20Criteria%3C/a%3E’%3ESearch%20Results%3C/a%3E

So the City Council ran out of money for the repaving of Parnell Square. However OPW are applying for Planning Permission for the Memorial for Victims of Abuse in Institutions. So while you wait for your bus on the narrow, cracked pavement you can look across the four lanes of tarmac to the visual feast above.

Aside from the question of whether it’s a fitting memorial, I’d have thought there were inherent problems in building a publicly accessible 20 metre long tunnel in a city centre location. None of the images seem to show what the inside of this tunnel will look like.

Link to Planning Application-

http://www.dublincity.ie/swiftlg/apas/run/WPHAPPDETAIL.DisplayUrl?theApnID=WEB1196/12&backURL=%3Ca