BROADSTONE REGENERATION

The linking canal spur was filled in and made into a long narrow park, Royal Canal Bank, in 1956. The reservoir, however, still exists.

In 1993, after decades of stagnation and neglect, Dublin Corporation's Parks Department began restoring it as a recreational facility, removing 6000 tons of silt and debris, adding a fountain, enlarging the central island for wildlife and undertaking extensive replanting. The Blessington Basin still obtains its water from the canal above the 8th lock, two miles away, but is now a picturesque walled park of one and a quarter acres, with a beautifully paved and landscaped walk around a large oblong body of 4.7 million imperial gallons (21,000 m3) of water, fenced off by wrought-iron railings, and scattered with sculptures and places to sit.

The large site at St. Brendans Hospital, Grangegorman is currently the planned future home of the Dublin Institute of Technology, and the area development plan under the Grangegorman Development Agency proposes to use the new Grangegorman Campus to join the Grangegorman and Broadstone areas, and to provide numerous facilies and amenities for both collegiate and public use.

This is only part of a massive regeneration project for the north inner city, including the redevelopment of nearby O'Connell Street and Parnell Street as tourism and retail centres.

There have been many calls to have the main building of Broadstone Station restored, and in recent years some have suggested it as a city terminus for the proposed metro system to Dublin Airport, while others have called for the reopening of the old rail line to enable residents of outlying areas along the old route to commute to the city more easily.