theblimp
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Phatman – I was speaking to an engineer connected to the project a few weeks back and he told me that the Kinsale Road roundabout will see work commence on its flyover early in the new year. On completion they expect to move on to the Sarsfield Road roundabout and finally the Bandon Road roundabout. The remainder of the Ballincollig By-Pass (into the Bandon Road roundabout) will be open before Christmas and not next Spring. The work being undertaken at present is indeed to facilitate the new flyover when they eventually get to it (….in about 30 years!). While I appreciate that they are now commited to doing this work, I dread to thing what those three roundabouts are going to be like over the next few years!!! :rolleyes:
CRC – without wishing to sound pedantic –
“Nation: A relatively large group of people organized under a single, usually independent government; a country.The territory occupied by such a group of people.The government of a sovereign state.”
Under the above definition Cork is indeed the second largest city in the nation. More importantly it is ‘de real capital’.
…can we get back to the real purpose of the thread now?
With regard to Eglington Street, while in general I welcome the modernity of the development, I’m slightly surprised by the ‘slightness’ of the main tower. Perhaps it will look better in reality, but having viewed the visuals, I found it less substantial than expected. It appears very thin and overtly angular. Compare for example, with the Clarion in Limerick. While this high-rise is far from excellent, it does appear more modern and ‘substantial’ than the Eglington Street ‘gateway’ building. Speaking of Clarion, now that the veil has started to come off the Cork Clarion and the lady is beginning to show her face, I must say that she will make an attractive addition to the city. I also hope that they maintain their commitment to develop an active boardwalk area at the front of same.
I see Mr. O’Callaghan is in the media again saying that he ‘might well’ develop a 6,000 seat arena at Mahon Point, but will need the full support of the city and tourism bodies. Yes, of course he will. Hakuna Matata about the access or the proximity of new residential neighbours to the site allocated!!! By any chance does Owen have a big project in planning at the moment that requires a bit of a push and a lot of spin ….. on the Western Road perhaps ….. ?
Diaspora, with the greatest of respect, simply because a building has a history should not exclusively mean that it must be retained. The grain silos in Cork were built for a purpose – one which they achieved very well. Under a scenario of a redeveloped docklands this purpose is removed. Yes, they possibly could be re-developed, but you must also open your mind to the possibility that something more aesthetically pleasing could replace them. There are many buildings in Cork that could be sustained, but the fact that they were cheap unsightly solutions at their outset deems them unattractive to retain. By proposing that you will object to any proposal for the demolition of the Cork silos (be it on your own ‘headed paper’ or not) without considering a possibly more attractive (and suitable) alternative lacks foresight and an appreciation of the mechanics involved in regenerating this region of the city.
One can only hope that the receeding floodwater on Patrick Street take the new bins and streetlighting with it. Failing that I guess they could always be used as moorings for gondolas.
I like the ‘plaza’ element (I assume it goes over the road?) and the link to Custom House Quay – apart from that….yawn!
Lexington – I heard some time back of plans to re-develop the current Cinemaworld in Douglas. Story I heard was that a group had also an interest in the current Perm.TSB bank on main street and planned to run a very high-end small shopping mall between the main street around to the cinema site with a boutique hotel overhead. Initial rationale was that the cinema would cease to be profitable upon the opening of Ward Andersons new move in Mahon Point – have you heard anything on this? If it’s already been posted here then I apologise and will immediately take myself outside, grab a branch and flog myself thoroughly!!!
…speaking of Christmas lights – I recall that we were promised an amazing new display for this year. That message was put out over a year ago and I have heard nothing since. Anyone know if there are indeed plans for something new?
Diaspora – chill out man. I have to say I agree with Lexington here. The Blackrock Road is entirely residential with a reasonable amount of ‘grand old houses’. This isn’t Ballsbridge – it is a reasonably sleepy suburb with a small access road that is unsuited to widening. In such circumstances I would have to say that an office facility is wholly inappropriate. Similarly I’ve always felt that the office block alongside Ashton School was totally out of place. If the grounds of this old house need to be developed then why not with something more sympathetic such as low-density high-end housing? For myself and many others Lexington provides a remarkably comprehensive insight into what’s happening on the ground here in Cork – yes, he does bash An Taisce regularly, sometimes with good reason, sometimes possibly not. But don’t take it personally – until such time as your posts start heading the proactive route rather than your current reactive model, I would strongly suggest that you relax. This thread has made it to 20 pages with some great insights – criticise the message by all means, but for all our sakes leave the messenger out of it.
Agree with you Paul that we need more nightlife – but as Lexington has stated there was one proposal for an basement ice rink. I know also of another proposal which would have seen something equally exciting and novel on the site. There are 2 new cinema complexes opening in the next few months (Mahon & Blackpool), so I was really surprised to hear about Ward Anderson’s decision. I know the Capitol (what’s with the ‘o’ spelling anyway?) is the ‘favourite child’ of the W.A. group, but I feel (hope) its days are numbered!!
On a totally unrelated topic – the proposed redevlopment of Jury’s Hotel – an interesting side-point. The current Opera House was originally designed to go on that site. The bare North Wall of same was to have been hidden behind trees along the river side. However the city fathers, in their wisdom, decreed that it should go on the site of the old Opera House … without any design alterations.
Lexington – don’t suppose there’s any chance you could convince O’Flynn’s to throw a panoramic restaurant up on the top of that? I know it’s not quite ‘windows on the world’ but I’ll bet the view up there would be pretty good all the same!
40m landmark – the mind boggles!
So now, within the city centre we will have the Butter Exchange, Shandon, City Gaol and a monument … oh, and a resurfaced main street with lights that look like they’re part of some huge kerplunk game – all for our wonderful tourists. Sure why would you bother going to Milan, Paris, Rome, New York, London, Bath, etc…….etc…?
Guys, until we start to drag ourselves away from our merchant past and refocus to a future mix to include an actual tourism ‘offer’ , no amount of ‘monuments’ will make a difference. This year the Irish tourist activity in the UK was all focused on getting families over here. Do you think the addition of a monument will have them cancelling their week in Magaluf? Similarly ‘Bertie’s Erection’ in Dublin doesn’t bring in any tourists – it does however give them something while there are here (albeit after a few minutes you would wander off to find something else). To paraphrase – “it’s the offer, stupid”. Offer tourists something worthwhile and they will come (come and see all our lovely apartments!). Stick with the status quo or pay lip-service by way of a monument and we remain in the rut. If the grand fathers of city development really wish to increase the tourism appeal of our city there are a lot better places to start spending their money.
Ok, rant over….carry on!
Hi Lexington – I’ve activated the e-mail feature on my ‘profile’ so if you wish to send something to me at that I’ll come right back to you. I’ll leave this option ‘active’ for a day or so.
Lexington – you wrote
“If you are serious about locations in the city centre, I can discuss it with you at some level with a degree of personalised confidence, details pending. You may find it ‘helpful’.”Any chance we could take this to somewhere private – tried the ‘contact adminstrator’ option on the messaging option on your profile but it just bounced back
On the subject of a Cork ‘Point Depot’ I feel there may be a political game being played out in the media over recent months.
Building such a structure at Mahon Point will be of significantly reduced benefit to the city compared to a city centre facility. The site in question is on the small side (never initially intended to be a concert venue – merely a ‘trade’ centre) and would be VERY close to new housing developments with just the one road in to the entire site. If I had just purchased a home down there I think I might well be inclined to object to such a development. However it’s in Mr. O’Cs interest to try and push others into showing their cards. If another group make a move he can reaffirm that ‘only one will be viable’ and can seek to work a new deal with CCC on his site.
As for Horgans Quay my understanding is that the site is too narrow. Have you any idea what kind of a footprint a 5,000 – 6,000 seat venue requires? Unless you want to build something akin to a ‘corridor’ this location won’t do – and that’s before you consider the noise and vibration effects of a large diesel locomotive.
My, reasonably informed, understanding of the Showgrounds proposal is that two structures are proposed. One is the main 6,500 capacity theatre (note I said theatre, not arena since the design shows a theatre-style layout which can be adjusted to allow C.100,000 sq. ft. of floorspace for exhibitions), plus a 2,000-plus seat equestrian/events arena for the Munster Agricultural Sociey. Both of these structures, including ancillary developments would occupy approx. 50% of the site, and a contingency for the GAA to re-develop PuC still leaves a considerable opp. for secondary development. I also believe that traffic management would ensure all access and egress is routed from and to the city thereby assisting the local residents and maximising the benefit to the city.
Is it just me or does one site appear to stand out more than others?
Finally bear in mind that such facilities are costly to build and, as such, are often funded by local government or similar (Odyssey Belfast, MEN Arena Manchester – not included Point here as it’s a private venue which is currently falling down – I believe they’re closing it down for a year). With no sign of CCC offering any financial assistance it will come down to a combination of two things – keeping the build-cost down and maximising the revenue from one of the global operating entities. These factors are the primary reasons why there isn’t such a facility in place already, and may ultimately be the reason why one is not constructed here in the immediate future.
…meant to add that I don’t think the Bodega guys or any other ‘neighbours’ would have a problem with this – quite the opposite in fact. The ‘group’ involved have a very well respected history of working with ‘neighbours’ to improve the ‘lot ‘of all
Nope guys – not a UK based co. – can’t say anymore though. We looked at Cineplex and were told that a deal was already done for there. Other two suggestions may be worth looking at though – thanks (and keep ’em coming!)
Hi guys – been lurking on the periphery for a while but was hoping someone here may have a pointer or two. Simple scenario – major international entertainment company looking to open first Irish outlet in Cork. Require minimum of 25,000 square feet (up to 45,000). Need city centre (footfall) – could be standalone or as part of larger development. Any thoughts on a potential location?
