Cruises Street

mysterious

Say what you think of this Street, news, opinions etc, what shops are coming in and out etc,

some question below, answer if you wish.



1.What do you think of it?

2.Do you think it adds to character to the area or improve the image of the city centre

3.What do you think of the architecture , is it good or bad??

4.Is there the right mix of shops?

5. Do you consider this Limerick's main shopping zone?

6. what's in store for this Street for the longterm future??

second points what you think should have?

what do you think would improve the image?
do you think an extra storey onto the building would balance and blend into O'Connells street?
Is there aanything the Street is Lacking
what qould like on this street?
finally do you think the new shppoing quarter around Rutlund Street will boost this area?

Amazotheamazing

Imo, There's several problems with Cruises street, the shops are generally too small to house modern shops.
It's an ugly, characterless street, it has no pubs or restaurants on the main street, which would give it life after half 5 in the evening. People don't live above it, so it can seem empty in the evening.
The new centre (see archiseek for more details) will hopefully lead to more people living in the city centre, and more life in the town. As things are Patrick Street and Ellen street are (imo) run down and unattractive streets, while I doubt that the new centre will be "life-changing" it hopefully will improve these areas. Importantly, rates from the new shops might actually allow this city run itself properly, ie clean the place up, run some proper festivals etc.

Spengman

I think theres a couple of things we must remember about cruises street before we criticise it!, firstly its now almost 15 years old and back then when cruises hotel closed down, it was seen as a huge opportunity for the city centre to re-energize itself,but also it was quite a daunting one as it was very much unchartered territory for the city and maybe in hindsight they werent as ambitious as they could've been, the number 1 goal was to bring big name retailers to limerick and in fairness it did. The plans were ideal for the early 90s but now i think we're seeing the limitations of the street, the site wasnt huge in the first place but now i think they're paying the price for not accomadating retail on the upper floors, the apartments havent really worked out, incidentally its interesting that in the new development on bedford row the shopping space is going to be spread over 4 levels! Cruises street has lost 2 retailers in the last few months and both cited lack of space as the main problem, its pretty obvious too that hmv could do with a bigger premises, maybe they might be moving to bedford row whens its finished. As for the new developments on ellen st/michael st i think its a pity that its going to be a shopping centre as opposed to proper shopping streets, i think this would have been a much better option and it would bring a bit of character and atmosphere back to this part of town. One big problem with all these new developments is that o connell st continues to be forgotten, this street should be the city's main shopping street but instead its in a fairly sorry state,anytime a premises comes on the market you'd expect that its a good chance for maybe some high profile retailer to move in but no! i think it says it all when another s****y centra is going to open right in the middle of the street, theres something seriously wrong here!:mad:

Amazotheamazing

In relation to Cruises St, I agree the plans weren't ambitious enough, but Ireland was in the grips of a recession, and Limerick has improved hugely since it was first built. I would like to see a good late night cafe or restaurant opening there.

I'll wait until the pedestrianisation/traffic calming of the O'Connell street area before questioning the future of O'Connell street. I think the improvements of Bedford Row, Roches St. (?) and Henry St are showing the city centre is moving in the right direction. My biggest gripe is the seeming lack of quality rental accommodation in the city centre, it's great having the city alive until half 5, but compared to other cities, not just Irish ones, Limerick is very quiet in the evening. The pub scene is need of rejuvenation, and the numbers living in the city centre are crucial to that.

On another separate point, I would like to see Arthur's Quay turn to face the River more. Too many streets in Limerick don't really connect to an overall plan for the city, Cruises Street doesn't seem part of O'Connell Street, William Street feels forgotton about, the entire old Dunnes Stores/Arthurs Quay separates the city from the river, the Market and Cornmarket seem miles away from O'Connell street.

Soledad

I think Cruises Street would ideally be suited to a cafe and bar street with a mix of pubs, resturants and cafes.
Most of the premises , especially at the lower end near MacDonalds are too small to function as retail units.
MAybe specialist shops like antique shops and crafy type shops would be better suited.
It could become a lovely entertainment centre for limerick with a bit of vision.
For shopping you cannot beat the Crescent for space, parking and choice so why try to compete.
A Temple Bar type area would be a much more attractive prospect in my opinion.
A mix for old and young and and various price levels and it could become a more attractive area.
As a shopping street it is a bit pathetic......

Limerick Dude

yeah soledad i agree with you there man, i think a temple bar type area would be brilliant for cruises street. sure if that big shopping centre is going up in the rutland/ellen street area all the big retailers would be going in there, hence turn cruises street into a mini temple bar.

gaf1983

Yeah I agree with the posters who suggested it needs more pubs/cafés, it was a real pity when Cruises Café went for another women's clothes shop. Call me conservative, but I don't really like having an Ann Summers (yet another British high-street chainstore) on what I would consider Limerick's main shopping street (I would associate O'Connell St more with businesses/offices than shops) - it's bad enought that there's an Ann Summers opposite the GPO in Dublin.

If you look at the Shop Street/Quay Street area in Galway it has loads of restaurants/pubs and there's a real buzz about it at nighttime. Granted you could say that Galway gets more tourists probably, but the problem with Limerick is that the nightclubs/restaurants are way too dispersed - as Spengman pointed out, many of the Cruises St shops are too small for modern retailers, but they'd be the ideal size for restaurants/pubs - only problem I suppose would be making space for a smoking area.

1huge1

good idea with the temple bar thing but i dont think we should turn cruises st into it
put it somewere else

hobie

I'll wait until the pedestrianisation/traffic calming of the O'Connell street area before questioning the future of O'Connell street.

...... and then turn the whole of O'Connell street, Cruises street and Williams street into a Templebar style area

a bustling cultural, residential and small business/Office district
with arts, culture and entertainment along with restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and shops

Limerick Dude

hobie wrote:

...... and then turn the whole of O'Connell street, Cruises street and Williams street into a Templebar style area

lol thats most of our city centre turned into pubs and café's!

i like your thinking!

Soledad

The thing with Limerick is that the pubs and resturants are too spaced out.
If you chhose to start drinking in say The Bank it is a hell of a trek to another bar if you want to move on.......I for one would love a whole street dedicated to entertainment.
Limerick is used as a gateway to the south of Ireland by many and could attract many mor tourists and even visitors from neighbouring counties by putting a bit of thought into the planning of the city.....it's not all about shopping (can't believe I said that!!!!)

Limerick Dude

your right mate i think the city centre needs a better atmosphere like galway's.

Amazotheamazing

We are light years away from being able to compare Limerick's atmosphere to Galway's, though I think we are moving in the right direction towards changing Limerick's atmosphere.

On the whole "Temple Bar/Shop Street" idea for Cruises Street, agree it makes alot of sense. Already we have Smyth's, Nancy's, the Old Quarter, Charlies, McDaids, the Cornmarket and soon we should see the new Finn's being opened in that area, ideally Cruises Street would have a pub opening on to it, and also a restaurant and cafe opening on to it, however none of this would count for much until people start living again in the city centre.