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The scaffolding has gone back up on the Jacob’s Mill development – no idea what’s going on there.
What was once a nice view of Trinity church from the end of the South Mall/Peace Park/Nano Nagle bridge is now pretty ordinary – between the ugly piping jutting out of the river bank (and the crumbling bank behind which it seems to have caused), the Jacob’s Mill development, The Elysian peering over the shoulder of the church, and the blank wall of the Copley St. development in the background.:mad:
jungle wrote:It was always planned, but then seemed to get dropped as a policy.TBH It would have been better to have had it as policy when the Grand Parade works were going ahead.
In principle I agree with restricting to public transport and taxis only during business hours]
Well, this comes into effect within 2 years, so you’d never know! :p
I wonder if this might have a negative effect. Would you buy a stereo from the Sony Store if you couldn’t pull up a car outside to pick it up? On a rainy day in winter, would you choose to come to town and have to walk to the centre, or drive to Mahon Point and stay dry?
@Pug wrote:
an extremely valid point
Just a personal opinion as well but NO to red brick – glass and stone all the way – cant wait to find out what the beehive shaped building in the left of the picture will be
Likewise, I think red brick has been done to death here. On large surfaces, it can be a very bland material.
I like the contrast in heights & designs in those plans. Having said that, I’ve no doubt all those buildings will be scaled back to a uniform 5 or 6 stories. The plannes seem to have an affection for dull and repetitive. 🙁
Wow. That’s quite a big bus/train station! 😉
I assume that development takes up most or all of Horgan’s Quay? Can’t be any worse than the previous proposal for there – even if this proposal hasn’t a hope of going through unscathed.
Is that a new bridge on the left?
Ah, thanks guys. You’re right – original rumours were that the Brog building had been bought for this purpose; though it would have been an odd, disjointed affair with access to the rest of the store only through the English market.
Thanks for the info lawyer & jdivision!
Half Moon St? Is that the development on the quayside (next to the Lavitt’s Quay building), or is there another development shoehorned between the quay and Paul St. on the western side of the street?
Incidentally, are there any images of the development above from Oliver Plunkett St? It is going to be where the Brog/Qube bar venue is now, IINM?
Taking another spin on this – does the city centre really need another big shopping centre? With Dunne’s being redeveloped, plus the Academy St. development, plus the huge Cornmarket St. centre (did I read somewhere Paul St. is being redeveloped too?), plus the Bodega was due to be converted to shops – though rumour has it that one has hit a snag – do we really need that much more?
While supply in this case could create demand, are there enough people living in the city centre to justify another one?
Jeeeesuz, that’s a monter! :p It looks fine – from the incredibly deceptive street-level shot!
I quite like the Western elevation, though it doesn’t strike me as a great end-point for Washington St. – don’t know why. Maybe it needs stronger horizontal lines?
Funny, I’m surprised it took so long to be defaced!
I was expecting the response: “Had she discovered Ireland’s biggest secret”
“The price!” :p
@PTB wrote:
Wife: How about this one?
Husband: I wouldn’t be too keen on the peach
Wife: We’re going with the peach.
Husband: Um..
Wife: We’re going with the peachI’m reminded of the mural on the side wall of the paint shop in Skibbereen – paraphrased – “No paint will be sold to husbands without a note from their wives”.;)
Cheers Radioactiveman (why does that sound like a line from a super-hero comic?)
It looks alright there, though I wouldn’t be too keen on the peach(?)* colour. I hope there’s a bit of artistic license there though – given the Lee’s tendency to flood I hope the banks are higher than that! 🙂
Looks ok at 3 floors, hope it looks ok if 5.
(* I’m a guy. I don’t do colours).;)
Did a fair old walk around the city, wish I’d brough my camera with me to take a few snapshots of what’s going up around the city centre.
– Jury’s Hotel is progressing nicely. The hotel itself, the apartment building (I presume) to the East, and the wedge shaped building in between (apartments again) are all up, with another building (at first I thought it was an escalator!) going up behind the apartment building. The Weir Bar on the river (obviously) is a nice spot for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
– The scaffolding has come down on half of the Jacob’s Mill building. Pity.
– The breast check clinic on Anglesea St. flew up without me noticing; does anyone have any images of what it’ll be like? Looks fairly ordinary so far. That area is certainly being built up between this, the Copley St. developments, the civic offices, and of course the Elysian isn’t too far away.
– There’s a new development in progress on McCurtain St., just across from St. Patrick’s church. It seems they’re retaining the facade – does anyone know anything about the plans?
– Another one that snuck up on me – the development on Western Rd. on the site of the old greyhound track. I presume it’s part of UCC, does anyone know? Again, speaking of areas that became built-up all of a sudden.
– Aoife Landers pub is being reopened as Market Lane restaurant. No major external changes, but worth noting as another notch in the rejuvenation of that end of Oliver Plunkett St.
– The former paint shop on the corner of Parnell Place and Lower Oliver Plunkett St. seems to be undergoing major renovation too. Hopefully they’ll retain the windows on that one, I always thought it would make a very nice cafe/restaurant/pub.
Radioactiveman wrote:Yeah, him coming in here, doing his job properly]Much as I hate to play the cynic:
– Nothing has happened yet in the docklands. Even I could oversee this level of inactivity!
– A lot of people – not just the denizens of this fine forum – are very concerned at the council’s new found tendency to give public land or public funds to private developers. Which is especially odd, given the council claims it isn’t exactly flush with cash, and private developers in this country, generally, are.
Does anyone here have a scan of the HH plans from Wednesday’s Examiner. I forgot to buy a copy.. I’m very interested to see the layout, especially given how the site spans Centre Park Rd.
@Leesider wrote:
I am afraid to say we would be waiting a long long time for any plan with the municipal stadium to go through
Which is a crying shame, since it’s the one key ambition that most of us have for the docklands. A modern, municipal stadium which could be used by Cork GAA, Cork City and Munster (for big ties which won’t fit even in the new Thomond) could use.
I find it a tad ironic that the council object to the showgrounds being so under-used and underdeveloped; while Pairc Ui Chaoimh is an sadly under-used eyesore yet they’re going to great lengths to accommodate them. But, if the stadium remains GAA only, it will continue to be under-used surely?
@Pug wrote:
very pertinent questions which you are entitled to send to your local councillors to ask them? why not email or write or phone them? they serve us the public after all.I will also be asking why the gallery was reputedly cleared.
Cheers Pug, I’ll do that.
Well, which is it? It’s great to have a choice of venues, or one is all Cork needs?;)
Honestly, I think one may be enough for the forseeable future, but I’d rather leave it open and let the market decide what Cork can sustain. It will now be more difficult for a second consortium to come forward with a second proposal, as they’d be competing for events against a (effectively) subsidised competitor; regardless of the merits of their design or location.
The point remains – why was the HH selected, and why the secrecy over the selection process? Those questions are anything but indicative of a clear and open process.
I’m very happy with the choice of location; but I’m concerned about the 8m invested; and angry about the secrecy over the selection.
@Spinal Tap wrote:
And like in the U.S. if the other consortia think that their proposals are all that sustainable they would go and build it on their own.You have massive arenas – stadia sitting all over cities there competing for events – does the public care – No – they benifit from having a choice yes a choice of events centres.
Some colleges there have better facilities than entire cities here.
Screw the media – Do they really care ? Any thing proposed for planning in Cork City 0ve 2/3 stories appears in the Echo “MANHATTAN FOR BLACKPOOL” etc.
It will all come out in the wash anyway – Cork needs this facility 10 years ago and anything that the City Council can do to make it happen must be welcomed.
The public money will be paid back tenfold in rates,taxes,contributions.
Does anybody on earth trust those who hold the public purse strings ?
Yes, but in the US the other consortia don’t have to compete with private ventures with significant public funding. The US tends to have better facilities because they have an open and level playing field. It’s easier to raise the venture capital because it’s simply easier to build a venue and profit from it. I think it’s safe to say you won’t see another venue open in Cork now, now that this one has such a leg-up.
I don’t care about the media per se, but they are the only way the majority of the public would ever hear about these developments prior to building; and that’s crucial.
This wasn’t the only choice before the council, not does it seem to have been the cheapest (from the public’s point of view) – so why was it chosen? I think that’s a simple question to which we’re entitled an answer – given we’re all contributing to it without any say in the matter.
@Spinal Tap wrote:
In the U.S. we would build these things and if its a good design and in demand by the community they were the people who determined its ultimate success.
Cork needs dynamism and developments like this must be welcome.
See any of the previous proposals for the Clarion Lapps Quay Site an dyou will be glad that Howards got involved.
They may not be perfect but they get things done.
In the US, they’d relish the idea of competition, and would thoroughly look at all proposals.
In the US, they’d be far, far more wary of investing public money in a private project.
In the US, there would be blue murder if the media were ejected from the discussion of public funding.
I honestly think it’s the best site for the centre, and the size, while not the largest, isn’t too small. But why oh why do we have to have this idiotic veil of secrecy. These public-private ventures sound risky enough as is, but without any openness and transparency how on Earth are we to trust those holding the public purse strings?
