Work In progress

SOUTH RICHMOND STREET AND PORTOBELLO AREA

October 23, 2023 by infomatique

STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

Today [22 October] many of the derelict buildings are gone and some of the major construction projects have been completed or are in the final stages but the extended area could still be described as a work in progress.

Work Continues for New €40m Hotel at Portobello Harbour. Construction is well underway for the €40m boutique Hotel Development located at Portobello Harbour in Dublin 8. The 175-bedroom hotel development will span 6 storeys in height and feature a bar, restaurant, gym, meetings rooms, and a business library.

Last December A €2.6 million redesign of Portobello Plaza, which became a focus of anti-social behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic, is to be undertaken by Dublin City Council. The new plaza would involve the pedestrianisation of Richmond Row from the canal bridge at Rathmines Road to Portobello Harbour, the road which runs in front of the Lower Deck pub. Dublin City councillors have been told it could take up to 18 months before construction begins. However, the plans have been criticised for the lack of greenery and too much “concrete”.

A few years ago I said that ” South Richmond Street is at the same time interesting and ugly mainly because there are so many buildings that are derelict or in very poor condition but also because it has been a building site for many years”.

“The built environment in Dublin is changing faster than I can photograph the changes and there is an area on South Richmond Street that caught me by surprise earlier this year as many of the restaurants and shops had closed or disappeared. According to many the Bernard Shaw was a huge loss to the area but I am not convinced and some of my friends who live in the area were pleased to see it go elsewhere.”

“Richmond Villas [now shown as Richmond Street South on Google Maps] was a place to visit if you were interested in Street Art but now it is dominated by a huge construction site [Charlemont Square where Amazon will be located] and I assume that the laneway will no longer exist once the building project has been completed. I am assuming the the Bernard Shaw and nearby buildings will soon be demolished.”

“Amazon employs more than 2,500 people in Ireland and announced plans last June to create another 1,000 jobs over the next two years, most of which will be located Dublin at Blanchardstown, Tallaght, North Count Dublin and the Portobello area of Dublin.”

“The Charlemont Square project was due to be completed this year but because of the current lock down completion may be delayed. This mixed-use development is the second phase of a city centre regeneration project.”

“My understanding is that there will be a total 79 social housing units.There will also be 184 private residential units, bringing to 263 the total number of homes in the complex, in addition to significant commercial office space and retail units.”

The 1837 Ordnance Survey map showed one building on the western side of Richmond St. (excluding property belonging to the Portobello Hotel), which corresponds to no. 34, which was the Caroline Records shop (closed in 2003).

The hotel at the nearby harbour was opened in 1807 (the architect was James Colbourne). In 1858 it was taken over by a Catholic order of nuns, who used it as an asylum (St. Mary’s) for blind girls. A few years later they successfully appealed to the Guardians of the South Dublin Union for some finance (it cost £10 to keep a girl for a year), though the Irish Times in an editorial frowned upon this proselytising by “Romanists”, while they lauded the efforts of the Protestant-run “Home for Orphans” at 7 South Richmond Street (which advertised frequently for “fresh souls to save” in the same newspaper).

Ten years later the Asylum was sold to a Mr. Isaac Cole, who renovated it and returned it to its original function as a hotel, to accommodate 100 persons. It was popular among officers visiting the nearby Portobello Barracks (who would occasionally pop across South Richmond Street to the Grand Canal Tavern for a drink) and claimed it was the nearest hotel to the Royal Dublin Society grounds. However, it was slow in providing catering facilities – in 1871 a Rathmines businessman, in a letter to the Irish Times, lamented the absence of restaurants in the neighbourhood, and enjoined upon Mr. Cole to provide same, preferably a two-course meal for two shillings (the price to include beer and punch).

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AT BLACKROCK PARK NEW PUMP TRACK AT BLACKROCK PARK

May 31, 2023 by infomatique

STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

Until today I did not know what a pump track was however some of my photographs from this series show such a feature. A pump track is a circuit of rollers,[a] banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders “pumping”—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bike and BMX scene, and now, due to concrete constructions, is also used by skateboard, and accessible to wheelchairs. Pump tracks are relatively simple to use and cheap to construct, and cater to a wide variety of rider skill levels.

Skateparks experienced a huge boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, most of them were designed to be used by experienced or professional riders, and thus resulted in many injuries. Many communities looked for a better, more accessible solution. The first new era pump track in the United States was built in 2004 at The Fix Bike Shop in Boulder, Colorado, by professional downhill bicyclist Steve Wentz.

Most pump tracks link a series of rollers to steeply bermed corners that bring the riders back around.[2] They used to be built mostly out of dirt; recently companies have started to use concrete or asphalt. Paved pump tracks also have the advantage that they can be ridden by skateboarders, in-line skaters, and foot-powered scooters.

Blackrock Park has several layers of history that can be clearly read in the landscape. The park is a fine example of Victorian landscape design with features including, and not limited to, the bandstand, lake and pavilion. The Martello Tower is one of the most prominent and oldest built features in the park.

The narrow linear layout of the park provides limited opportunities for field sports. The current masterplan seeks exploit this and incorporate alternative sport facilities within the park to promote more diverse active recreation within the county. The masterplan proposes a skate park, pump track, outdoor gym and bouldering within the park interlaced with meadow and tree planting. The tree planting will provide additional shelter from coastal winds and improve the parks climate change resilience.

It is proposed to remove the existing playground adjacent to the bandstand and the defunct Italian Garden within the park and replace them with new natural play elements to promote free play and imagination. The feasibility of incorporating existing structures as play elements within the park, such as historic follies will be explored in the detailed design process.

A permanent staff facility beside the car showroom in the active area will provide additional supervision and foster a sense of safety as there will be more staff in the vicinity.

WHERE IS THE BICYCLE LANE

February 17, 2023 by infomatique

WHY IS FRANCIS STREET STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

SEE HIGH-RES SLIDE SHOW

The Street is on one way street but there is no sign of a bicycle lane despite the fact that there is a DublinBikes Docking Station at one end of the street. Here is an extract from the mission statement: “Francis Street Environmental Improvement Scheme aims to upgrade the public realm of this key part of Dublin’s street heritage through the realignment of the street and footpaths. The main aims and objectives of the Francis Street Environmental Improvement Scheme include providing a more pedestrian-friendly environment along the street, improving the environment for vulnerable road users (pedestrians and bike users) and providing a safe environment for people of all ages and all levels of physical ability, by providing designated crossing areas.”

I cannot that FrancisStreet has been, effectively, a building site for at least six years and while I was lead to believe that all work would be, according to the most recent updates, completed by completed by now but there has been little sign of progress since my last visit.

In July 2021 Dublin City Council published the following Tweet: “Work on the Francis St Environmental Improvement Scheme is set to start on Mon 5th July. When completed, the scheme will provide wider footpaths, new granite paved public spaces to the front of the Iveagh Market & St Nicholas de Myra Church. 20 new trees & landscaped areas, new street furniture, and the reorganisation of car parking and loading on the street. The project will take 10 months to complete. #Dublin #YourCouncilDay”.

Previously I read the following: “With a strong emphasis on pedestrians, the plan envisages widened pavements and new threshold spaces to the front of the Iveagh Market and St Nicholas de Myra Church. The current awkward widening and narrowing of the carriageway will give way to a consistent width and measures to reduce speeds and allow for more relaxed cycling and easier crossing. Changes to car parking and loading arrangements, 20 new street trees and landscaped areas, sustainable urban drainage measures (SUDs), new street lighting, street furniture and utilities will all serve to create a much improved street and establish Francis Street as a destination.” At the time I did not notice that there was no mention of bicycle lanes.