urbanisto

Posted this on College Green thread but the issue is referred to above.

I take your point wearnicehats. Its only that looking around the city centre, the various pavement works and the few refurbs of buildings on College Green (110 Grafton Street also unveiled last week) seems to be the only show in town.

And as the image about makes clear the potential to create a worldclass civic space on College Green are limited. The various needs of the traffic/rail engineer will prevail. The pedestrian takes a back seat…as it does now. Which I suppose explains why, although the history of College Green is outlined in the new Public Realm Strategy….its future is ignored in the list of projects deriving from the strategy, including:

Trinity to IMMA East-West Route (South Central Area, Traffic)
This project ties together a number of projects at various stages so as to maximise value to the city and improve this key route. Projects already underway include Castle Street public realm works, Thomas Street QBC, Fáilte Ireland public realm funding. There are potential partnerships with the Digital Hub and NCAD.

Note who the deliverer of these proposals is*

I will shut up about pavement works now wearnicehats :silent: 🙂

Well there was a rash of activity about College Green yesterday but unfortunately the sum of all these parts fails to deliver the quality space we are all seeking.

The scaffold is now down on the former Bank of Ireland building to reveal a pristine facade. The landing to the front of the building has been redesigned to provide a wheelchair ramp and the ornamental lighting to the front is being refurbished. I hear that the store will open in November just in time for the build-up to Christmas

Next door, Dubarry’s is under wraps but seems to be getting a buttery yellow paint to the front. I also imagine they will open in November.

While Sierra and Richard Whatshisname are doing the sporadic (and not particularly good quality in my view) pavement works about the city at the moment, including along Dame Street, it was a DCC team that were doing the pavement works in front of the A&F store yesterday. Unfortunately, there is no change to the width of the pavement, no re-alignment at that uncomfortable pinch point in front of Books Upstairs, the random bollards are all being put back in – randomly, no rationalisation of the bus stops. The usual missed opportunity.

DCC Lighting are still tapping away at their lighting scheme…over a year later. Its absolutely ridiculous. I would also hazard a guess that it will remain ‘uncompleted’…it looks like a couple of proposed locations have been repaved over (in front of Ulster Bank and in front of Trinity close to the Provost House). Trinity are also still missing their front lamps.

No effort to reduce clutter and acquired crap about the space…phone boxes, telecom cabinets, signage. The trees are still an issue and continue to languish in their ugly tarmac bases…I wonder will they be removed with the Luas works?

Poor old College Green!

Heavens forbid that a DCC policy would spell something out clearly and be enforced.

I think it will really add to the great mix of pubs, takeaways and convenience stores on Dame Street!

Doesn’t the city’s most important public space deserve better?

I dunno..could well be DCC Architects who are currently supervising the refurbishment works inside.

http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?p=98

I hate to seem as if I’m forever coming down on the Council. Of course it is capable of really good work. But in this instance one has to ask whether it would not be better for the building to be handed over to a private company with a brief to restore and develop it as a commercial market.

The wrap advertising on Doyle pub has also been taken down…assume O’Connell Street followed.

Its a pity DCC interest didnt extend a little farther down Westmoreland Street

What are we to make of Dublin City Council one wonders…

The planning process in the city is in tatters. Most changes such as the one about dont even make it to the desk of a city planner, they just proceed regardless. Planning Enforcement is non-exsitent or is probably non-exsitent…a cursory glance at the latest Annual Report will tell you nothing of the Council’s performance in this area.

Public consultations are now pointless exercised…witness the Mountjoy ACA Variation (all submissions ignored), Grafton Street Part VIII works (all submissions ignored and no Planner’s Report published), the Public Realm Strategy (not even a record of the submission made).

The Public Realm Strategy is in place but its not apparent that public realm works are being coordinated through the “team” or undertaken in the spirit of the strategy. The Thomas Street QBC (granted Part VIII permission in 2010) will proceed with a 4 lane carriageway through the historic heart of the city, repeating the mistakes of High Street and Patrick Street. Needy street such as Parnell Street East are left to rot while its western section get repaved without even so much as a mention from the City Council. The City Council Roads Department cracks happily away with paving schemes on Talbot Street and Parnell Street West (bit of a budget there?) while College Green remains a jumbled mess with its half completed lighting scheme. The Markets are continues to rot while the Capel Street ACA seems doomed to lie half completed until the funds appear in the distant future. The flagship O’Connell Street scheme…images of which litter City Council publications…already looks a bit tired and uncared for. Trees are missing, uplighting no longer works, the street furniture keeps being adding to, the area around the Spire looks barren and unfinished.

What a city….