urbanisto

Yeah maybe… although I think most of these drawings and paintings of the period are quite stylized. The O’Connell St one definately is… in fact it might be viewed as an easrly sales pitch by the Gardiner Estate to sell Sackville Street.

The picture of College Green as viewed through the portico of Parlaiment House is definatley idealised as the commentary points out.

I am sure that the Dublin Civic Museum much have many such drawings…. its a pity they dont make a permanent exhitition.. although they are pushed for space and resources at their current site. Its a bit of a fusty old institution much in need of a revamp.

We should enrole Royston (an old classmate…now that makes me feel old) as an honorary member and maybe someone in DCC might listen to our rantings! 🙂

They’re on Francis Street I think…or Meath Street. Its a shame they are not remaining as working markets.

On the other side of the Liffey, does anyone know anything about the Markets area redevelopment there. Is it a pipe dream or a serious proposal?

What a state that building is in. Its a disgrace. I am not sure what the law is but I know what should happen. The listed building should be assessed by the DCC and surrendered to it if it is found that the state of the building is so bad.

As for squaters…. get out and get a job and pay your way like the rest of us!!

Poor Parnell Square – particularly the west side. It is a disgrace that it should be let languish like this.

From this mornings Indo:

CASH shortages could delay the construction of a bridge which is a central plank in the redevelopment of the Grand Canal Dock area of Dublin.

Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) plans for the refurbishment of the area, due for completion in 2006, hinge on the construction of the Macken Street bridge which is supposed to link the Grand Canal Dock to the redeveloped sites on the Liffey’s northside.

The bridge has been promised since 1999 but the City Council has yet to issue a tender for its construction.

There are now concerns that the docklands reconstruction could end up without any connection across the Liffey.

It is planned that the bridge will carry four traffic lanes, two bus corridors, two LUAS lines, two cycleways, and pedestrian paths.

It has also emerged that the IFSC may not now have a direct link to the Airport due to proposals to divert a metro line to O’Connell Street.

The success of DDDA’s plans to revive the docklands are also dependant on the Rail Procurement Agency providing new LUAS links on time and on Iarnród Éireann developing a rail interconnector, new station, and rail tunnel under the River Liffey.

Yesterday DDDA chief executive, Peter Coyne, said that it was the City Council’s responsibility to ensure the key link bridge was built. The deputy city engineer, Michael Phillips, said the intention was that tenders for the Macken Street bridge would be issued in the autumn and he expected construction to begin early next year, with completion by early 2006 at a projected cost of €20m.

It mostbdefinately was NOT progress and I guess that is what the IAP has admitted. O’Connell St in the 40s and 50s was a beautiful street and the centre of the city – day and night. You can see uniform shop fronts, canopys on most buildings, less traffic and a transport hub at the Pillar. The IAP is simply trying t recreate that.

On another front: last night saw the premiere of Veronica Guerin and I must say (at least from the BBC coverage) the stars looked far from celestial against their backdrop of hoardings, broken pavements and a rather shabby looking Savoy.

Here is the Indo article from 8 Jul:

THE erection of the Spire marks the beginning of the rejuvenation of O’Connell Street.

Work is already underway on the paving to provide a new civic space in front of the GPO.

The square tree-bordered plaza is to include grey, white and pink granite stones, imported from Spain and China.

The plaza is part of a radical initiative to attract more people, business and tourists to the city centre.

The reduction of traffic lanes on O’Connell Street, designed to give pedestrians priority over traffic, is also underway.

The timetable for rejuvenation is as follows:

* June 2004: All works south of the Spire as far as Prince’s Street are expected to be completed by this time next year.

The plaza will include new lighting, the lime trees, which controversially replaced the older London Plane trees, and a number of retail kiosks.

* December 2004: The area from Prince’s Street to O’Connell Bridge, including the Luas tram lines, will be completed during the second half of next year.

Again, the newly paved and wider central area will feature new street lighting, lines of trees and more retail outlets.

This phase sees the completion of the rejuvenation of O’Connell Street south of the Spire.

* 2005: The development of the area north of the Spire is scheduled for 2005 but is largely dependent on plans for the Carlton site, now under control of Dublin City Council. Detailed targets will not be set until after the future of that area is decided, a spokesperson said.

Don’t CIE own the land?

Do you think the new building will look like M&S in a few years time once it has weather and gone out of fashion. Personally I think it does nothing for the street and is completely out of context to the surrounding buildings. Maybe the revamped ILAC and Dunnes Stores buildings will improve it.