[Merge]There has been talk before... Snowdome

Mitch Buchannon · 18-12-2008 4:51pm #1

€100m winter leisure park planned for north Dublin

DAVID LABANYIA building development company is planning to build an indoor ski resort and extreme sports centre in
Tyrellstown, north county Dublin, which it claims could lead to the creation of up to 700 jobs.
The project will feature two ski slopes; the longest running for 190 meters, a rock and ice climbing area and a high-level adventure playground.

The project is being run by Twinlite and is similar to recent winter sport developments in Manchester and Milton Keynes in the UK.

Rick Larkin, Twinlite director said barring any delays in the planning process he hoped the centre would open in the third quarter of 2010.

He said the company had already raised the estimated €100 million required for the development costs and said the worsening economic outlook for the country was not a significant concern.

“International experience is that in a recessionary environment leisure spend tends to be pretty resilient. People are drawn towards escapism and similar facilities in the UK have been performing well”.

In Manchester the fee for 90 minutes skiing including equipment hire is around £24 and Mr Larkin said he expects the pricing model for “Snowtopia” to be broadly similar.

The company expects up to 1.5 million visitors a year to a development that will include a paintball centre, digital theatres, a gym, restaurants and retail outlets.

Mr Larkin said the new jobs would be across the entire development and suggested that another “300 indirect” jobs could be created once the new centre is operational.

robinph · 18-12-2008 5:08pm

Sounds great if it happens, but still not sure that I actually belive them until I see it being built though.

paulharte · 18-12-2008 5:16pm

true, i think this one has a bit more potential tho, since it's been announced in the depths of a depression, rather than on the crest of a building boom. Its not just a scheme to sell apartments, hopefully...

paddyb · 18-12-2008 5:25pm

Sounds great, hopefully it goes ahead.

Hornswoggle · 18-12-2008 5:48pm

Would be amazing if this went ahead - but for now im going to take it with a little pinch of salt. Realistically, would there really be enough demand for this on an all-year round basis?

Mitch Buchannon · 18-12-2008 6:07pm

jaysus, Paddy.. we must be tooing and frowing between here and Irishsnowboarder:)

paulharte · 18-12-2008 6:08pm

I don't think its impossible, dublin is only a bit smaller than glasgow, and it has one, and it has to compete with real snow slopes. Lets all hope

Jonnykitedude · 18-12-2008 7:55pm

SWEET

I heard this was ment to happen down in KT a few years ago but nothing was ever heard again.
Lets hope it does go ahead!

RATM · 19-12-2008 7:51am

But isn't Tyrellstown on the northside? ( D15 I think ) There may be demand for something like this but I reckon the majority of it is on the southside. If it ever does get built it could turn into a large white elephant because of its location imho

edmund_f · 19-12-2008 11:13am

the fact that it is in Ireland at all - no competing 'real' snow outside of getting a boat - plane, yep doomed to failure DOOMED

I will be there opening day anyway!

Scootay · 19-12-2008 11:15am

Tyrellstown......Rick Larkin, Twinlite director

You'd think the guy promoting the development in the town his company built most of would check that they had the spelling of Tyrrelstown correct.

Jonnykitedude · 19-12-2008 11:48am

RATM wrote: »

But isn't Tyrellstown on the northside? ( D15 I think ) There may be demand for something like this but I reckon the majority of it is on the southside. If it ever does get built it could turn into a large white elephant because of its location imho

WTF ?!?!

What on earth makes you say that, the north side has a huge snowboard/ski community! Also its right off the M50!

paddyb · 19-12-2008 1:12pm

i think it will be irrelevant where it is because it will be the only one

Don1 · 19-12-2008 3:52pm

Its just a guess but Northside land would be more abundant and cheaper non?

Also all year round would be great! Go a few times a year to keep the skills fresh until heading off for the winter?! Makes sense to me. Also as a lot of Irish do take winter holidays now this will be a much more realistic to KT for testing the water (albeit frozen) and training at a lower cost before deciding to head abroad.

Great idea and hope it goes ahead and succeeds.

olaola · 19-12-2008 4:25pm

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1219/1229523104845.html

Today's Irish Times...

Don1 · 19-12-2008 4:35pm

olaola wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1219/1229523104845.html

Today's Irish Times...

Glad they said the image was computer gernerated. And there was me thinking all the had to do was patch the holes and roof it............ :rolleyes:

Cheers for el linko though!

prunudo · 19-12-2008 7:43pm

Jonnykitedude wrote: »

WTF ?!?!

What on earth makes you say that, the north side has a huge snowboard/ski community! Also its right off the M50!

Exactly. As long as it is situated within 5 mins of the m50 between n81 and n3 then its going to be centrally located and have the biggest catchment area.

Means also people from the likes of Atlone, Arklow or Dundalk could still be there within an hour or so.

Or are snow sports only for people from Dublin:rolleyes:

jimdev · 19-12-2008 11:57pm

I would nearly give a leg to get skiing on actual snow in Dublin. (I might want the leg for actually skiing with). This looks far far more likely to happen than the slope proposed in Newtownmountkennedy but it still seems that this sort of development is unlikely to work in Ireland in general due to the much lower population density than the UK.

The catchment area for a snowdome is about 50 miles (nobody will travel regularly much past that). I have heard off people in the Kilternan who looked into a snowdome just to see if it was possible. They said it seems most likely that around 10-15 million people are needed in your catchment area to support a decent snowdome. As Paul pointed out, Glasgow has one, which seems to defeat that argument. Kilternan looked into doing a snowdome and even with the possibility of government backing and national lotto money and the like, it still looked unfeasible.

Still though, I would really like to see this happen.

Don1 · 21-12-2008 5:37pm

Doesn't really matter about the amount of people near it, more so the amount of interest in it, and then most importantly weather those interested can afford it.
Add to that the expense of flying anywhere now and in the next few years, coupled with the complete collapse of our economy and this becomes a lot more viable.

All IMO of course.

paulharte · 21-12-2008 10:38pm

Heres my two cents:

I think it can be financially sustainable, considering a few things, firstly the galsgow example which we've already talked about.

Remember, the glasgow example has to compete not only with "real" snow in scotland, but also with some really good quality artificial slopes, such as (beardsden, etc). there are two plastic slopes in glasgow and two just outside it.

In dublin we have a single dendex slope and thats it, AND nothing else in the whole republic of ireland.

I think there will definitely be enough business to sustain it, if its done properly.

I think the main reason for the newtownmountkennedy failure was that it was really a smokescreen to get pp for a load of apartments (I´m told the dome was in phase Z of the plans)

The only things I would be sceptical of are if it will get planning and who exactly is funding the whole thing, since bank loans for these kinds of projects are not exactly forthcoming. Apparently the planning is being submitted so we will find out about that one soon enough

Don1 · 21-12-2008 10:41pm

Somebody phone Abu Dhabi or however its spelled. They'd pony up the dough no hassle!

Jonnykitedude · 21-12-2008 10:52pm

Was flicking the radio yesterday on my way to the beach and heard an interview on news talk.
The guy was one of the head guys on the project,sounds like its going to go ahead,they have the planning sent in and have giving land to dublin coco to build some link road between the n3 and n2, he said that the project would not go ahead until the road was finished.
But he said the road is due to be done soon and they hope that the project will start in may 2009 and be done for winter 2010.

So looks like the wheels are in motion.
He was also stating that there are centres like this in mainland europe approx 3 hours away from the alps and there doing great business, It will be jammers!!

Poster King · 22-12-2008 11:19am

Two comments I have about this.
I alway thought that such a development would take place in an area that at least had a hill. Tyrresltown is flat as a pancake.
Also, the gradient of the slope seems very gentle. Now this may just be that the CGI is not accurate (I'm not referring to the CGI in the link above, I saw another one elsewhere), but all the other centres that I've seen images of have much steeper slopes. With a gentle gradient, and a relatively short piste, it will only appeal to beginners and maybe intermediates.
Am I wrong about this?

Don1 · 22-12-2008 11:25am

If they include some jibs on it it'd be grand. Some of the best craic I've ever had on snow was on flatter bits arseing around. Although zooming down steep hills is good too.

paddyb · 22-12-2008 12:39pm

ive been to some in the uk. they have lots of ramps and rails about. Plus they have freestyle night, where they have bands and dj's with really good park layouts

Mitch Buchannon · 22-12-2008 11:47pm

Poster King wrote: »

Two comments I have about this.
I alway thought that such a development would take place in an area that at least had a hill. Tyrresltown is flat as a pancake.
Also, the gradient of the slope seems very gentle. Now this may just be that the CGI is not accurate (I'm not referring to the CGI in the link above, I saw another one elsewhere), but all the other centres that I've seen images of have much steeper slopes. With a gentle gradient, and a relatively short piste, it will only appeal to beginners and maybe intermediates.
Am I wrong about this?

To be honest Ive been to the one in Glasgow and its in a flat land area too.
The one in Manchester is at the Trafford Centre and the one in the shopping centre in Dubai are also in areas of flat ground. I dont actually know if building on a hill would be a good or a bad thing.

robinph · 22-12-2008 11:54pm

Building it on flat land is probably easier. No hills to bother with transporting the refrigerations stuff up and down, more likely to have plenty of space around about for some huge parking areas, and then you can make use of the space under the slope for shops/ cinemas/ gym/ anything else that you can think of. Flat land is also more likely to be relatively close to your potential customers.

paddyb · 23-12-2008 12:41am

you dont need to be at a hilly area, here is the one in manchester

prunudo · 23-12-2008 12:58am

Yeah the manchester one is fairly flat all around it alright.

But they are building a new one in Hemel Hempstead (near London) on the hill of the old dry slope. The thinking is that by building on solid ground you can build bigger features without causing too much pressure and un-even weight disturbution on steel/concrete beams.Will look for some pictures on the net

Jonnykitedude · 23-12-2008 8:42am

There building another one in Dubai thats 1km long:eek::eek::eek:

Mitch Buchannon · 24-02-2009 12:02am

Hey Guys,

Just a bit of info for you. As you may be aware the IDA objected to this project going ahead. Well today (23rd Feb) Fingal Co Co refuseed planning permission for this Ski Centre. The planners report will be on their website tomorrow.

I think this is terrible news, what the hell is wrong with this country.

[Merge]There has been talk before... Snowdome

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