Longford town is nice

BambooBob

Hello I was recently in Longford town. You can tell Longford was a planned town. It has the same planned feel to it as Ballinasloe. I was well impressed by the wide main street. Shame about the old Longford Provider's building on the corner along the main street. Shame on the planners for allowing it. Its vile. I loved the red brick masonic hall. Lovely houses out beyond it too. Heartbreaking to see St Mel's boarded up. Can't wait to see it reopen. Best wishes to all those involved in its restorations.

ArtSmart

NO IT'S NOT

STOP IT

STOP IT NOW.

Angron

So... You didn't meet the locals then?

Crafty-Chel

You'd want to see it on a saturday night...:eek::eek::eek: shocking stuff....

MASTER...of the bra

What happens on a Sat nite? Last time I was in, it's a good few months ago now, it was deserted.

Crafty-Chel

It has been deserted alot lately but usually theres kids killing eachother everywhere and ppl getting stabbed ect...

calf

Going to bypass it soon nightmare with traffic weekends

garfieldsghost

Crafty-Chel wrote: »

It has been deserted alot lately but usually theres kids killing eachother everywhere and ppl getting stabbed ect...

Exaggerate much? :rolleyes:

Sure, there's always a few people out to cause havoc, but it's no worse than any other Irish town. Try walking through Temple Bar on a Saturday night!

MDFM

calf wrote: »

Going to bypass it soon nightmare with traffic weekends

It does already have a bypass!!!!
and the route that the new bypass is taking is easily accessible as it is if u wish to use it as a bypass in its current state.

calf

Where is they bypass going from dublin to mayo

ballsymchugh

who the hell would want to go to mayo? where will ye get the chips at the break in the journey then?

ballsymchugh

keithj75 wrote: »

Hello I was recently in Longford town. You can tell Longford was a planned town. It has the same planned feel to it as Ballinasloe. I was well impressed by the wide main street. Shame about the old Longford Provider's building on the corner along the main street. Shame on the planners for allowing it. Its vile. I loved the red brick masonic hall. Lovely houses out beyond it too. Heartbreaking to see St Mel's boarded up. Can't wait to see it reopen. Best wishes to all those involved in its restorations.

i don't get this bit. providers was at that spot for donkey's years and moved about 2 years ago. i'm sure they'd love to sell/lease it as much as most people would but the only shame is that it's empty. not a planning issue.

the new centre beside the cinema however, now that is a terrible mistake.

MASTER...of the bra

Denny M wrote: »

So... You didn't meet the locals then?

Crafty-Chel wrote: »

You'd want to see it on a saturday night...:eek::eek::eek: shocking stuff....

Crafty-Chel wrote: »

It has been deserted alot lately but usually theres kids killing eachother everywhere and ppl getting stabbed ect...

calf wrote: »

Going to bypass it soon nightmare with traffic weekends

I don't get most of this thread.

Sunnyisland

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

I don't get most of this thread.

welcome to longford

Angron

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

I don't get most of this thread.

We may live there, but we don't like each other :pac:

MASTER...of the bra

Longford ain't to bad, no worse than anywhere else, there's a couple of retail units that need a bit of work, the big hole that was left when they knocked Chartbusters is a real eyesore. And the old Garda station down Dublin street - I'm surprised that was left the way it is to.

Never liked where they put that phone mast (if it's still there?) on top of the old Providers building, those things shouldn't be stuck in town centres.

What it does need badly though is a good electrical/computer shop. The few that are around are to expensive....though that kind of applies to the whole country now I suppose.

ballsymchugh

the old garda station is a bit of a quandry. it's owned by the OPW, and getting things done by them is like getting blood from a stone. i don't know why the council don't put a derelict site notice on it like they did with the animal hotel. escabar came out of that and it's a pretty decent front on it.
as for chartbusters, what's with the yellow light there, like the amber light on a traffic light?? confuses the bejaysis out of me at the market square!

garfieldsghost

ballsymchugh wrote: »

the old garda station is a bit of a quandry. it's owned by the OPW, and getting things done by them is like getting blood from a stone. i don't know why the council don't put a derelict site notice on it like they did with the animal hotel. escabar came out of that and it's a pretty decent front on it.
as for chartbusters, what's with the yellow light there, like the amber light on a traffic light?? confuses the bejaysis out of me at the market square!

It's not only a quandry... it's a saga. When recently investigating what the future plans are for Connolly Barracks, I contacted a number of the more prominent local Councillors on the issue. Only one(!) replied and conversation soon turned to the similar situation that surrounded the old Garda Station. I was told that after it closed it was offered to the Council for the princely sum of £1. They went ahead and bought it but, once they had it, couldn't think of a use for it! Ownership ended up being transferred back to the OPW...

You couldn't make it up! :mad:

Re: Escabar - that's closed now, so don't be surprised to see that building deteriorating!

Re: The yellow light opposite the Market Bar - it's for the taxi rank. The rank extends around the corner onto Ballymahon Street after a certain time in the evenings and it's meant to indicate to the first driver waiting on the Square that a space has become available around the corner. From what I've heard from taximen, it's been less than successful... not at all like those fabulous solar/wind-powered streetlights they put up around Feraghfad. Oh, wait... :rolleyes:

MASTER...of the bra

calf wrote: »

Where is they bypass going from dublin to mayo

You can use the existing bypass out as far as McDonalds/Homebase, turn in there and take the right after the filling station, it's a back road if you like but you pop out bout a mile out on the strokestown road.

Knit wit

The Garda station was sold a couple of years back by the opw and is now privately owned ... http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local/sale_of_garda_barracks_yet_to_be_confirmed_1_1945125

bmarley

There's an indoor/outdoor market in Longford every Saturday, all day - well worth a visit

MASTER...of the bra

Knit wit wrote: »

The Garda station was sold a couple of years back by the opw and is now privately owned ... http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local/sale_of_garda_barracks_yet_to_be_confirmed_1_1945125

Sale of Garda Barracks yet to be confirmed


Published on Thu Sep 21 12:13:18 BST 2006

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has confirmed that the premises of the old Garda Barracks located on Dublin Street in Longford town will be put on the open market. It is believed that the derelict building could be worth well in excess of 600,000 euro.

According to a spokesperson for the OPW, "the building is going on the open market but no decision has been made as to when it will be going onto the open market."
It has been suggested that renovating a building such as the Garda Barracks – the front of which is a protected structure – is always more expensive than knocking it and rebuilding from scratch.
An industry professional told the Leader that "it will be difficult to ascertain the value of the building, given the requirements to protect the existing building."
"The person buying it would have to have something in mind for the building and it will have to be something the planners want," he added.
"Essentially, it's a development site. The building itself needs to be refurbished, it's not a straightforward refurbishment," he added.
The old Garda station was originally the larger of the two RIC Barracks in the town and was occupied by the Gardai until the new station was built on the site of the old infirmary on Battery Road.
The building is ideally located at the bottom of Dublin St – one of the town's best known retail streets and near to the landmark St Mel's Cathedral. The site itself is quite large so the scope for development there would be substantial. Its location in the heart of the town and near to the main routes into town is bound to make it an attractive prospect to potential developers although development would be severely restricted due to the fact that the faade is a protected structure. This means that the facade would have to be preserved and naturally this would curtail the scale and type of development at the building.
Since the new Garda Barracks opened on Battery Road, debate over the future of the Dublin St building has raged at Town Council level. Members of Longford Town Council had wanted to take over the building and develop it but that was found to be too costly.
It is believed that a number of local organisations such as Co Longford VEC, the Citizen Information Service, the National Learning Centre and Longford Tourism, had been approached with a view to becoming tenants of the premises of the premises once it was renovated. However the groups who expressed interest in the building weren't willing or able to pay for its construction costs.
But now the Garda Barracks is to be sold. Industry sources say that it is hard to estimate how much the derelict building would be sold for it is thought that the building is worth well in excess of 600,000 euro. However in the current market climate, it could realise a lot more.

That doesn't say it was sold.

The indoor market still has along way to go.

Knit wit

http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local/garda_barracks_fetches_2m_euro_at_auction_1_1946001

Yup ... It was definitely sold!

MASTER...of the bra

Knit wit wrote: »

http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local/garda_barracks_fetches_2m_euro_at_auction_1_1946001

Yup ... It was definitely sold!

Garda Barracks fetches 2m euro at auction.


Published on Wed Dec 13 14:09:05 GMT 2006

A large local crowd attended the auction of the former Garda Barracks on Dublin Street in Longford town last week. The prominent building was sold for two million euro to a local businessman in trust at auction in the Longford Arms Hotel last Wednesday. A major selling point for the building was the fact that stamp duty is not applicable on the purchase as the building is under the control of the Office of Public Works (OPW), resulting in huge savings.
"The advised minimum value of the property was 500,000 euro to 550,000 euro. Given its structure, we were unable to give a guide price for its sale and that is why it went to auction," a spokesperson for Quinn Bros Property Partners, the selling agents for the property told the Leader following the auction.
Paddy Quinn of Quinn Bros Property Partners presided over the auction. Mary Murphy, representative of the vendors, The Office of Public Works and Emma O'Donoghue, Chief State Solicitor were in attendance. It is believed the property will be used for development.
"Up to 1.25 million euro, there were five bidders, then towards the end, there was three, then two and then one," she explained.
"It was a very successful auction, better than we thought it would be. There was a large local crowd in attendance at the auction and a lot of local businessmen and businesswoman," she added.
These prominent old stone fronted buildings have an area of approximately 5,000 sq ft with other yard buildings of approximately 500 sq ft. The overall site area is approximately 10,000 sq ft with an impressive street frontage of approximately 78 ft. There is vehicular access to the yard from New Street via Breaden's Lane, together with pedestrian access from Dublin

So it was....but why buy it and just leave it? And it was a year and a halfish before the property dive.

garfieldsghost

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

So it was....but why buy it and just leave it? And it was a year and a halfish before the property dive.

It is strange, alright. As far as I know, it's a protected structure so whatever use was intended for it couldn't have involved much alteration.

Given the current economic climate, I can't see much development of the building in the foreseeable future.

seriouslysweet

Any nice clothes shops there?

Spinx

Well from talking to a few ladies from outside Longford they're well impressed with its clothes shops....but not a lot of options for men in my opinion.

gingernut79

ballsymchugh wrote: »

as for chartbusters, what's with the yellow light there, like the amber light on a traffic light?? confuses the bejaysis out of me at the market square!

Think its something to do with the taxis on market square so they know when they can pull down into the loading bay spaces on ballymahon st outside business hours

Deregos

Longford I suppose is like many rural Irish towns as in . . It still has bleeding great idiots who drive leaking slurry tanks straight through the center of town !!! :eek:



I didn't see but most certainly smelt this one reckless ignoramus who came up Richmond st & main st & left his trail of sh1te going out the Dublin Rd just Wednesday gone. That was a very hot day with most peeps traveling through town with their windows down.

And then there's the other lorry driving culprits who drive their foul stinking rotten carcass cargo through town . . (I'd thought they were banned from doing this) which again on an especially hot days like we've been experiencing of late . .the stench can be absolutely gut wrenchingly fecking rank.

Hope the new Longford bypass will soon put an end to these offensive odor issues.

ballsymchugh

Deregos wrote: »

Longford I suppose is like many rural Irish towns as in . . It still has bleeding great idiots who drive leaking slurry tanks straight through the center of town !!! :eek:

that's a plain and simple littering offense too. they could've easily been pulled up on that.

Deregos

ballsymchugh wrote: »

that's a plain and simple littering offense too. they could've easily been pulled up on that.

If I'd of seen them actually doing it, I would have definitely reported the fecker :mad: