Supermacs - An architectural blight on High St.

Badgermonkey

I find the Supermacs store on High St to be a real visual eyesore, usually covered in cheap posters for their 'meal deals' . A combination of that, their nasty lighting and unattractive signage give a tatty appearance to the whole storefront. There are many other offenders but Supermacs are the most glaringly obvious.

The city itself could be significantly more attractive if businesses took more interest in how their shopfronts could be more sympathetically integrated into the streetscape. If the council actively encouraged and incentiveised attractive design, be that traditional or contemporary, the city would be far the better for it.

The medieval selling point is often hyped by the tourist board but medieval cities on the continent would be aghast at Kilkennys cavalier attitude to its built heritage.

t63m

Well said. I know it. You know it. The dogs in the street know it. And now we have cheap s*** shop fronts springing up all over the place adding a strange sort of join up the dots continunity thru the city. Supermacs, Bookie offices, cash for gold etc., ad nauseum. No one will ever tackle the bookie office issue as thats a tabooded topic in Ireland. We have no gambling issues. We have no political vested interests in that area.
And TBH Ive experienced more medievality in the average French or Belgian village. There is no vision here, Look at whats been b****** up- The Parade, Graces Castle, Beautiful skyline destroyed on the callan rd with Unfinished monstrosity estate. Concrete car park in centre of town nicely visible from every vist in case drivers cant follow "P" signs.

The icing on the cake was removing the cobbles from outside the castle!

Badgermonkey

t63m wrote: »

Well said. I know it. You know it. The dogs in the street know it. And now we have cheap s*** shop fronts springing up all over the place adding a strange sort of join up the dots continunity thru the city. Supermacs, Bookie offices, cash for gold etc., ad nauseum. No one will ever tackle the bookie office issue as thats a tabooded topic in Ireland. We have no gambling issues. We have no political vested interests in that area.
And TBH Ive experienced more medievality in the average French or Belgian village. There is no vision here, Look at whats been b****** up- The Parade, Graces Castle, Beautiful skyline destroyed on the callan rd with Unfinished monstrosity estate. Concrete car park in centre of town nicely visible from every vist in case drivers cant follow "P" signs.

The icing on the cake was removing the cobbles from outside the castle!

And what was buit on the parade? A concrete box with a chipper in it!:eek: (In a county of artisan food producers)

Spot on about the bookies too, with their obscured 'sex shop' style windows.

The city has so much potential as a tourist destination and some relatively simple cosmetic solutions could offer a real return for a fairly modest outlay.

Threadhead

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said here, as I think would the vast majority of Kilkenny folk.

The real kick in the stones for me was the view of the city coming in the Callan Road. One of the best views of the city being completely ruined by a horrible looking estate was a step too far.

We have to look on the plus side though, what we do have is so much better than the majority of towns and cities in Ireland. We just need to ensure that our city is taken care of. Actually, better taken care of.

fabbydabby

The real kick in the stones for me was the view of the city coming in the Callan Road. One of the best views of the city being completely ruined by a horrible looking estate was a step too far

God, yeah that was a travesty alright. (On a slightly related note, there's still some lovely views coming in from Johnswell and Tullaroan).

Badger monkey, given the fact that the council are totally incapable of integrating the streetscapes into themselves (refer to the crusades against taste that comprise the parade, the courthouse, canal square respectively if in any doubt), I think Supermacs is there to stay.

They probably did it on purpose.

Badgermonkey

fabbydabby wrote: »

I think Supermacs is there to stay.

They probably did it on purpose.

Funny:D

and for my next post....vomit coloured bungalows!

fabbydabby

Have you ever been to Athy?

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=athy&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Athy,+County+Kildare&ll=52.991747,-6.975009&spn=0.007052,0.01929&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=52.991646,-6.974973&panoid=EDqtmI-Yt2xW0oPyKDvmiQ&cbp=12,2.44,,0,5

Captain Havoc

fabbydabby wrote: »

Have you ever been to Athy?

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=athy&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Athy,+County+Kildare&ll=52.991747,-6.975009&spn=0.007052,0.01929&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=52.991646,-6.974973&panoid=EDqtmI-Yt2xW0oPyKDvmiQ&cbp=12,2.44,,0,5

gaaah, my eyes :eek:

Apropriately named road though.

Lord Derpington

fabbydabby wrote: »

Have you ever been to Athy?

http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=athy&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Athy,+County+Kildare&ll=52.991747,-6.975009&spn=0.007052,0.01929&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=52.991646,-6.974973&panoid=EDqtmI-Yt2xW0oPyKDvmiQ&cbp=12,2.44,,0,5

Forget about athy, have you been to Paulstown?

Dymo

greenfly wrote: »

Forget about athy, have you been to Paulstown?

Never liked the look of those houses, who ever choose the colour?

Cabaal

Dymo wrote: »

Never liked the look of those houses, who ever choose the colour?

Colour blind person?

Raze_them_all

Athy...thre only town in ireland that makes me happy to see comer!!

fabbydabby

If you could take the emotion Depression and convert it directly into a town, the result would be Athy. I have never seen so many tiled shop fronts in one street in my life. You mustn't be able to get planning permission without them.

t63m

Raze_them_all wrote: »

Athy...thre only town in ireland that makes me happy to see comer!!

"superiority complex", in everyday usage, refers to an overly high opinion of oneself. In psychology, it refers to the unrealistic and exaggerated belief that one is better than others.

Time this thread was closed!

Threadhead

Looks like we've got some Athy fans.

t63m

Not a fan of anwhere. I just take people as i find them. People are the same everywhere the world over. Balanced sensible fair types and then the superior ones who consider they have a divine right to pass judgment on a person because of the colour of their house or tiles on walls.

fabbydabby

You're so right, but personal appearance is a great aid to judging people too.

One of my favourite pastimes is to sit outside the Tea Rooms with a double espresso and try to differentiate the bona fide proletarian from a member of the nouveau pauvre as they amble past on their way to buy lottery tickets and mikado biscuits.

It's getting tougher.

Ravage1616

t63m wrote: »

"superiority complex", in everyday usage, refers to an overly high opinion of oneself. In psychology, it refers to the unrealistic and exaggerated belief that one is better than others.

Time this thread was closed!

You pretty much Got Raze in a nutshell there!

Raze_them_all

t63m wrote: »

"superiority complex", in everyday usage, refers to an overly high opinion of oneself. In psychology, it refers to the unrealistic and exaggerated belief that one is better than others.

Time this thread was closed!

I'm not castlecomer, how does it give me a superiority complex because i find athy to be a hole??


Pssst unless you can show me a psychological qualification you can stop throwing around the terms that you don't quite understand

t63m

Raze_them_all wrote: »

i find athy to be a hole??

and the above is an educated comment?

By referring to Athy as a hole do you mean the 8000 men women and children who live there?
If in your opinion Athy is a Hole then state your case for it being a hole. Dont just label

Raze_them_all

it is my opinion that it is a hole, a depressing town and one that was reinforced by working there. The same way that my opion that liverpool are a **** soccer team.

t63m

QED