Dundalk Town Works

Hank_Jones

Surprised that there's no thread on this.

Wondering what people's opinions are on the town centre works?
Personally, I see them as being way, way behind schedule,
expensive and pretty much ruining the town for the lengthy period that they are ongoing.

I hope that I'm wrong and they improve the town, but I don't see it happening.
It'll be pretty much as it was before the works started, but the town will have had a lengthy period of hassle.

Onesimus

Each time I walk pass them I have to keep remembering that ''Oh yeah this is the recession, these guys are really good at presenting the illusion that we are still living in the 2005 boom....*looking around for candid camera* I know there is one somewhere.'':cool:

MugMugs

At least the social deviants will have somewhere nice to drink and then destroy.

Dohnny Jepp

MugMugs wrote: »

At least the social deviants will have somewhere nice to drink and then destroy.

But they got rid of their big toilet!

jemmyboy

when is it due to be finished anyway???

MugMugs

Dohnny Jepp wrote: »

MugMugs wrote: »

At least the social deviants will have somewhere nice to drink and then destroy.

But they got rid of their big toilet!

Now they can just pi$$ on the fancy lights.

Onesimus

Dohnny Jepp wrote: »

But they got rid of their big toilet!

Yeah and replaced it with a fountain/toilet even more posh than the old one

Hank_Jones

jemmyboy wrote: »

when is it due to be finished anyway???

It's due to be finished middle of September 2011. :pac:

Someone probably made a typo mistake about the year though..

Dohnny Jepp

yeah they meant 2111 -.-

MugMugs

Well in fairness it looks almost done. Not a hell of a lot more left to do. Except sort that fecking road out now and get that hoarding down opposite the Taxi rank. It looks terrible !

cournioni

They seem to enjoy waking everybody up on a Saturday morning there, they never seem to be working at any other time...

Johnny Foreigner

I am glad to see some money being invested in improving Dundalk town centre. The construction work has been an inconvenience, and has gone on a long time; but I am sure in these current times the men are glad to be working. What you have to remember is that this is keeping men in work. I think the end product will justify the length of time it has taken to complete.

amacachi

I think they started OK but then found out that the services weren't properly mapped or something, hence why they seemed to take so long to do what should be the simple task of just ripping everything up.

Theshamen

I think it only helps the town however i also think the general public and traders should have had a say.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

True about the services not being as expected and they also hit sub-strata problems that could not have been foreseen. Anything will be a huge improvement on the eyesore that was there. And, as said, it provided much needed employment and investment.
I get sickened by begrudgers and nay-sayers.

Hank_Jones

Ryker Wooden Headphone wrote: »

True about the services not being as expected and they also hit sub-strata problems that could not have been foreseen. Anything will be a huge improvement on the eyesore that was there. And, as said, it provided much needed employment and investment.
I get sickened by begrudgers and nay-sayers.

It's hardly begrudgers and nay-sayers.

The works are months behind, a lot of money is being spent and there's question marks as to whether the whole project is actually more positive than negative for the town.

10green bottles

Hank_Jones wrote: »

It's hardly begrudgers and nay-sayers.

The works are months behind, a lot of money is being spent and there's question marks as to whether the whole project is actually more positive than negative for the town.

Yes months behind, but that was expected.
And you are right,the whole project, when it is finished, will have a big inpact on the Town centre.The carbbunkle that was there will be gone,pity they didn't take that flippin Art Centre/TCM office or whatever it is along with the fountain!!

MugMugs

Ryker Wooden Headphone wrote: »

True about the services not being as expected and they also hit sub-strata problems that could not have been foreseen. Anything will be a huge improvement on the eyesore that was there. And, as said, it provided much needed employment and investment.
I get sickened by begrudgers and nay-sayers.

Cool the jets there! Think about it too. Your local A&E could soon be Beaumont :eek: That's a good hour away. Yet we are able to build a nice looking Market Square to be vandalised!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There's no link in the funding there!

You might as well say shops closed but we rejuvenated the Market Square or could we not have kept some factories open instead. Join up the dots. :rolleyes:

MugMugs

Ryker Wooden Headphone wrote: »

There's no link in the funding there!

You might as well say shops closed but we rejuvenated the Market Square or could we not have kept some factories open instead. Join up the dots. :rolleyes:

Which public funded factories are they ?

Dunny

The Square officialy opoening tomorrow evening. Think the fountain is going on at 5.30

10green bottles

7.30 according to this Dunny-

http://www.louthcoco.ie/en/Louth_County_Council/Latest_News/Dundalk%E2%80%99s_Market_Square_to_shine_brightly_for_Christmas.shortcut.html

The ‘switch on’ of the Market Square fountain and Christmas lights will take place at 7.30pm, Friday with choir singing to begin from 4pm

Great line-up of live music too,The Long Riders and Beached Whale playing outside the old Dunnes in Park St and the brilliant Sinead McNally and band playing outside McEvoys on CB street to name just a few.

Mr Magnolia

I saw the fountain running for a while last weekend, it looked really well.

Johnny Foreigner

The fountain looks great. Its just a shame the work could not be completed on time. The disruption will have a negative effect on retailers in the run up to Christmas.

10green bottles

Bit small and hazy but you can get the general jist of what it will look like from this.
There is a vid of it around the internet but im too tired to look for it:(

MugMugs

Looks really good. May drop down for a look and a pint.

petes

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

The fountain looks great. Its just a shame the work could not be completed on time. The disruption will have a negative effect on retailers in the run up to Christmas.

Can't see it myself to be honest. Which retailers are you talking about?


I'll be tipping up for a bit this evening as I only live a couple of minutes around the corner.

Johnny Foreigner

Insurgent wrote: »

Can't see it myself to be honest. Which retailers are you talking about?

The retailers in the town centre (around the works).

petes

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

Insurgent wrote: »

Can't see it myself to be honest. Which retailers are you talking about?

The retailers in the town centre (around the works).

Walk by them every day twice and all seem to be doing okay. Nothing stopping people going in to them.

Johnny Foreigner

Walk by them every day twice and all seem to be doing okay. Nothing stopping people going in to them.[/QUOTE]

Nothing except the barriers around the town works...
Well they are nearly finished now, so it will be business as usual.

10green bottles

Looked brilliant tonight.Real continental feel about it,just a pity that the weather was sh*@e :mad:

tayto lover

Was in Dundalk last week. I didn't like the new black & grey effect of the Square at all. Too sombre, in keeping with the mood of the Nation though. I couldn't see the 3 million euro in that job at all.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I agree the Grey is very dull. The street furniture is clumpy and not at all stylish. That said, anything would be an improvement.

And why on earth did they not repair the Maid of Eireann when they were at it???

Johnny Foreigner

tayto lover wrote: »

Was in Dundalk last week. I didn't like the new black & grey effect of the Square at all. Too sombre, in keeping with the mood of the Nation though. I couldn't see the 3 million euro in that job at all.

I was thinking the same thing myself.
The multicoloured fountains look like an expensive bit of kit, but does it really cost 3 million Euro to block pave and tarmac a market square?
Materials aside, I suppose the biggest cost was the plant hire and labour.

MugMugs

To be honest, I think the alternating colours in the fountain look tacky. Also, where are the college heads meant to put their washing up liquid?

Mr Magnolia

I couldn't disagree more over the 'tacky fountain colours', I'm eager to see how it integrates with the finished product. The current road surfacing is very poor, I hope that's not the final finish. I'll reserve judgement on the project until all works are complete.

Dunny

MugMugs wrote: »

To be honest, I think the alternating colours in the fountain look tacky. Also, where are the college heads meant to put their washing up liquid?

Doing the dishes for once maybe?:pac:

MugMugs

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I couldn't disagree more over the 'tacky fountain colours', I'm eager to see how it integrates with the finished product. The current road surfacing is very poor, I hope that's not the final finish. I'll reserve judgement on the project until all works are complete.

Drove by it yesterday and didn't think a lot. I'll go for a run that direction during the week and suss it out. Everything sucks on first impressions for me!

working fool

i drove past it lastnight ,it looked fairly good ,,
saying that there where a few gob****es playing waterjet roulette with it .
suppose it would come in handy for washing the underside of your car for free before the NCT ?

cournioni

I just can't wait until it's fully finished. They're still rattling about there this morning.

working fool

Has anyone concidered it might be a working monument to days of old ???

You Know when people had jobs
And worked in the building trade .

Dublin has the sculpture of the poor souls juring the famine .

Dundalk has a live working sculpture of people actually working !

Played by actors of course .

Dunny

That road is still a mess and dangerous as f**k! Absolutley no markings and the cars are all over the place on it

Johnny Foreigner

I think the black and grey paving on the pedestrian crossings is not visible enough to motorists. It would be better tarmacced black and painted white in the traditional way. I also think the crossings need some signage and amber lights.

10green bottles

Dunny! wrote: »

That road is still a mess and dangerous as f**k! Absolutley no markings and the cars are all over the place on it

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

I think the black and grey paving on the pedestrian crossings is not visible enough to motorists. It would be better tarmacced black and painted white in the traditional way. I also think the crossings need some signage and amber lights.

Disaster waiting to happen there.
Think i heard Paddy Malone, who is chair of Dundalk Chamber say the other night, that those probs will be sorted ASAP.
Let's hope so.

tayto lover

Its quite a come-down from the original plans as posted previously
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D4VCUCoa08

MugMugs

Well there's no kid trying to RAM a traffic cone into the fountain in that one. Just went for a run and the little **** told me to f off when I told him to stop. He stopped straight after that. . Who's taking odds on how long before its destroyed?

Mirrorb4ll

New square is awful. Here's why:

1. Still not finished and it's 3 months over schedule. I hope Dundalk Council are getting some money back from the contractor for this although i have my doubts.

2. They left that ugly useless Arts building or whatever the hell it is there. Should have bulldozed it down. I've never seen anybody going in or out of the place, it is undoubtedly a waste of money, and it is ugly as hell.

3. As mentioned already, the coloured lights in the fountain are tacky as f**k. Tacky. No class, no refinement, cheap looking.

4. The footpath on the side that runs from Vodafone to where Jubago used to be is about 3 times too wide. They should have kept the width the same (or perhaps slightly wider but not much), kept the road where it was and made the actual square (you know, the one where markets and stuff can go?) bigger. It's called Market Square. We should be encouraging it's use for that purpose.

5. Too many tiles. Should have used big tiles like 3 foot square or more instead of the eyesore, headache inducing maze of black and grey tiles they went with. Easier to keep clean, and looks classier. It actually looks dull and dirty at the minute. I can only imagine it in 5 years time.

6. Footpath and road have practically the same tile pattern as each other - accident waiting to happen. Tar the entire road and paint clean white lines and make things clearer. They did the same in O'Connell street. Idiots.

7. The pedestrian crossings are confusing too - more black and grey tiles. Is it a pedestrian crossing? Is it not? Who knows. Black and white zebra lines... done. Everybody knows the score. Simple.

The whole thing is clearly better than the abomination that was there before it but that's not really the point is it? It's about value for money. People don't seem to realise this. When asked about it by a woman today i said i didn't like it. She told me i should be grateful it was done up (she stopped short of calling me a begrudger and a naysayer - people love throwing those words around). Grateful? If it was done for free by some charitable construction firm i wuld be very grateful. But it wasn't. It was paid for by taxpayers. The public. Me. And you. And it's crap. And i'm fully entitled to say so.

An expensive, tacky, overdesigned, eyesore put together by a bunch of civil servants with too much time on their hands and no common sense or taste. I expected nothing less.

End rant. Good to get that off my chest. I feel better now.

tayto lover

Mirrorb4ll wrote: »

New square is awful. Here's why:

1. Still not finished and it's 3 months over schedule. I hope Dundalk Council are getting some money back from the contractor for this although i have my doubts.

2. They left that ugly useless Arts building or whatever the hell it is there. Should have bulldozed it down. I've never seen anybody going in or out of the place, it is undoubtedly a waste of money, and it is ugly as hell.

3. As mentioned already, the coloured lights in the fountain are tacky as f**k. Tacky. No class, no refinement, cheap looking.

4. The footpath on the side that runs from Vodafone to where Jubago used to be is about 3 times too wide. They should have kept the width the same (or perhaps slightly wider but not much), kept the road where it was and made the actual square (you know, the one where markets and stuff can go?) bigger. It's called Market Square. We should be encouraging it's use for that purpose.

5. Too many tiles. Should have used big tiles like 3 foot square or more instead of the eyesore, headache inducing maze of black and grey tiles they went with. Easier to keep clean, and looks classier. It actually looks dull and dirty at the minute. I can only imagine it in 5 years time.

6. Footpath and road have practically the same tile pattern as each other - accident waiting to happen. Tar the entire road and paint clean white lines and make things clearer. They did the same in O'Connell street. Idiots.

7. The pedestrian crossings are confusing too - more black and grey tiles. Is it a pedestrian crossing? Is it not? Who knows. Black and white zebra lines... done. Everybody knows the score. Simple.

The whole thing is clearly better than the abomination that was there before it but that's not really the point is it? It's about value for money. People don't seem to realise this. When asked about it by a woman today i said i didn't like it. She told me i should be grateful it was done up (she stopped short of calling me a begrudger and a naysayer - people love throwing those words around). Grateful? If it was done for free by some charitable construction firm i wuld be very grateful. But it wasn't. It was paid for by taxpayers. The public. Me. And you. And it's crap. And i'm fully entitled to say so.

An expensive, tacky, overdesigned, eyesore put together by a bunch of civil servants with too much time on their hands and no common sense or taste. I expected nothing less.

End rant. Good to get that off my chest. I feel better now.

That was a fair long rant there. Fair and long.

working fool

I hope they have upgraded the CCTV
Because with all the fantastic colors and fountains the muggings and riots at the weekends are gonna look like a
Duran Duran video !

Dundalk

Mirrorb4ll wrote: »

2. They left that ugly useless Arts building or whatever the hell it is there. Should have bulldozed it down. I've never seen anybody going in or out of the place, it is undoubtedly a waste of money, and it is ugly as hell.

3. As mentioned already, the coloured lights in the fountain are tacky as f**k. Tacky. No class, no refinement, cheap looking.

That is being knocked and a new building is going in there. There will be an open plan cafe facing the square.

Mirrorb4ll

Dundalk wrote: »

That is being knocked and a new building is going in there. There will be an open plan cafe facing the square.

Well that's just dumb.
If they're planning on putting ANYTHING there they should have knocked it when they were bulldozing the fountain. Much more efficient. At the minute they have installed all those tiles around the perimeter of it. Are they planning on knocking it and buiding a café the exact same size as the building that's there at the minute? And all without damaging the tiles they have just installed in the last 2 weeks.

Also, a café? Really? Run by who? A private company? It's a public square. If a private company got use of that land that is a joke. If it is a private company what happens if the business is not profitable? They close down and you have a boarded up shell of a building smack in the middle of a public market square. Beautiful.

And if it's not a private company that means the council have decided to get into the coffee shop game? Brilliant. :rolleyes:

The mind boggles...