When is Bishops Quay and howleys quay road reopening?

ninty9er

Exile on Grafton St. wrote: »

From what I've been reading in the Limerick Leader, the only Christmas events Limerick is offering is indoors - both in the milk market and the former Franciscan Church.
http://www.limerickleader.ie/what-s-on/arts-entertainment/city-to-host-series-of-food-and-craft-stalls-this-season-1-5742089

It seems such a shame that other cities like Waterford (Winterval) and Cork (Glow) have such great outdoor events for this time of year that Limerick doesn't do the same. It really shows a complete lack of ambition.


Could the Limerick on Ice event not take place in the Potato Market and use Arthur's quay park for a Ferris Wheel (similar to the one in Grand Parade) and carousel, etc. and possibly more stalls at the back of the Hunt Museum. It would look great for anyone coming over the Shannon and make the city look more alive and inviting.

The only? Jesus wept :rolleyes:

That Ferris wheel on Grand Parade is the biggest waste, there's rarely a decent crowd on it, hardly the best use of resources, Bishop Lucey Park is really nice though.

The Potato Market is a car park, it generates revenue and provides a place for visitors to the city to park.

Other cities would sacrifice every baby born on a new moon to have facilities like The Milk Market. I haven't been home recently, but what was wrong with the Bedford Row set up?

Kess73 wrote: »

And where would the current market and it's set up go if a Continental Christmas Market set up? The Xmas markets do not get made up of small fold away stalls and the like. It is quite a comprehensive set up that does not move once set up

Plus a lot of the areas where the current markets go would not be suitable for a Continental Christmas Market as it would be too large to set up alongside what is already there, plus would not be convinient for those living in the area or for traffic. Arthurs quay park would suit because it would be in an enclosed area where people could walk to easily, and could also be left there 24/7 without impacting on residents or traffic systems.

The Galway market stalls etc stay put 24 hours a day for the month, and are also open until eight at night most days with 10 a clock closing on their late closing nights so there is a degree of noise.


Plus most Continental Christmas Markets are a city centre event as the idea behind them is to draw crowds into the city centres where possible and not the outskirts.

Waterford and Cork have their "continental Christmas market", Limerick people (and Irish people in general) need to get over this copycat mentality. Find something else ffs. We have the Milk Market, use it and move along.

If we had gold bullion spitting from the drains people would complain they have something else somewhere else and why don't we have it:mad:

Vanquished

Brennans Row wrote: »

Tarmac!!!! :eek:

Temporary solutions in Ireland often end up as permanent ones?

Indeed they do but to be fair this method has been applied before on William Street and Bedford Row/Henry Street over recent Christmases.

It would have been nice to have had the project fully wrapped up for the holiday period but it really shouldn't take very long in the new year to get the job finalised.

Brennans Row

Brennans Row wrote: »

Tarmac!!!! :eek:

Temporary solutions in Ireland often end up as permanent ones?

Cookiemunster wrote: »

This has been used regularly over the years in the other paving schemes around the city as a stopgap and they've always come back and finished the job correctly. I wouldn't be too worried.

Vanquished wrote: »

Indeed they do but to be fair this method has been applied before on William Street and Bedford Row/Henry Street over recent Christmases.

It would have been nice to have had the project fully wrapped up for the holiday period but it really shouldn't take very long in the new year to get the job finalised.

I hope you are right, as I was pretty pissed-off with some aspects of the work done on O'Callaghan Strand.

I got the impression that the paving contractor rushed the last phase on the O'Callaghan Strand and made a right botched job when trying to merge the new pavement with the old limestone quay.

Not only is the long crooked line along the quay pavement an unaesthetic sight, but worse the uneven surface is prone to cause personal injuries.

Definitely a great spot for the compo culture and I would love to know the city official who signed that work off as acceptable.

Kess73

ninty9er wrote: »

Waterford and Cork have their "continental Christmas market", Limerick people (and Irish people in general) need to get over this copycat mentality. Find something else ffs. We have the Milk Market, use it and move along.

If we had gold bullion spitting from the drains people would complain they have something else somewhere else and why don't we have it:mad:

If something works well somewhere else and the same success could be had in Limerick then there is no shame in doing so. It is hardly as though the milk market is an original idea to start with, yet is a nice addition to the city centre regardless of it's lack of originality.

I think Limerick city and the folk living there should want the city to be able to match anything other similar sized cities do. If that can be doing by doing something totally original then great, but in this day and age very few "new" attractions are in anyway original, but if matching (or bettering) the similar sized cities and towns gets done by taking what they do and improving upon it then great as well.

There is a brand new quay area in the city now (well one that is very close to completion) and I think as well as being a public amenity, that area would be a great spot for various attractions (big and small) over the course of the year. I see no problem with an Xmas market there because then it gives Limerick twice as many Market attraction for Xmas in that there would be a once a year Xmas market plus the regular market.

The new quays could also be used for various attractions during the summer (maybe a busking area or even have busking competitions there. The idea of old fashioned ice cream vendors there if we got a summer like the one just gone appeals to me as well.) and the backdrop of the river would just add to the ambiance of any events.

MrJones2013

Kess73 wrote: »

The new quays could also be used for various attractions during the summer (maybe a busking area or even have busking competitions there. The idea of old fashioned ice cream vendors there if we got a summer like the one just gone appeals to me as well.) and the backdrop of the river would just add to the ambiance of any events.

Have to agree with you here. The river is totally under-utilised and should be the focal point of the city.....it's actually why people settled here in the first place. The city has massive potential and hopefully over the next few years with the student accommodation being brought in to town and the potential 300 new jobs announced today it will breath new life in to the city and make it more vibrant and modern.

Vanquished

Brennans Row wrote: »

I hope you are right, as I was pretty pissed-off with some aspects of the work done on O'Callaghan Strand.

I got the impression that the paving contractor rushed the last phase on the O'Callaghan Strand and made a right botched job when trying to merge the new pavement with the old limestone quay.

Not only is the long crooked line along the quay pavement an unaesthetic sight, but worse the uneven surface is prone to cause personal injuries.

Definitely a great spot for the compo culture and I would love to know the city official who signed that work off as acceptable.

I don't think it was a rushed job that caused the problem there. I genuinely believe they were unsure as to how to approach the tie-in with the old quay wall.

Those old limestone blocks are rugged and irregular making the finish more difficult. A similar issue has arisen on portions of the city quays which will become apparent when the fencing comes down. The condition of the limestone quay wall varies greatly along there which may have held things up too. The stretch between Sarsfield bridge and poor man's Kilkee was originally finished with cement but that was later ripped out and replaced by a type of gravel fill.

To be fair I can live with the sometimes uncomfortable interface in order to see the old limestone preserved rather than have it paved over.

Itsdacraic

Kess73 wrote: »

It is hardly as though the milk market is an original idea to start with, yet is a nice addition to the city centre regardless of it's lack of originality.

:rolleyes:

The market began in the 1800's

mgbgt1978

Can we close this thread now as the road in the title is now actually open (even though the job itself will probably drag on until next Easter ).

Looking forward to the 'When is O'Connell Street reopening thread ?'

....as for the 'Jesus, look what they did (didn't do) to the Opera Centre' thread....

Limerick Dude

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Can we close this thread now as the road in the title is now actually open (even though the job itself will probably drag on until next Easter ).

Looking forward to the 'When is O'Connell Street reopening thread ?'

....as for the 'Jesus, look what they did (didn't do) to the Opera Centre' thread....

Well at least if those threads exist then we will see some good work being done in the city centre!

Unfortunately I don't think O'Connell Street or Opera Centre works will be happening for a while.....

Kess73

Itsdacraic wrote: »

:rolleyes:

The market began in the 1800's

Markets like it have been commonplace around Europe and elsewhere for hundreds of years, so as I said the idea of a market is hardly an original idea and certainly one that is not exempt from change or competition.

But my point was that if there is something else being done with the market format that is working very well elsewhere, then Limerick should not be worried about being seen to take the better aspects of that idea and incorporate it into the city as an attraction. Just because somewhere else has something that currently draws in far bigger numbers does not mean that Limerick city could not take the same idea and improve upon it.


I just think the new Quay layout would make a smashing location for that and other ideas, and would see that great big lovely river being used more as the fantastic backdrop/attraction is really should be.

Itsdacraic

Kess73 wrote: »

I just think the new Quay layout would make a smashing location for that and other ideas, and would see that great big lovely river being used more as the fantastic backdrop/attraction is really should be.

Markets are usually in nice protected areas, not on a fairly open riverside in the middle of December. The wind that whips along there isn't so pleasant this time of year.

Kess73

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Markets are usually in nice protected areas, not on a fairly open riverside in the middle of December. The wind that whips along there isn't so pleasant this time of year.

Yes if we are talking about table style stalls and fold away set ups, but a lot of the professional festive markets are either solid build or vehicular in stall set up and many of those in the UK and mainland Europe do get set by rivers and they set up wind blocks that work very well.

If the wind and cold can be worked around in the North West of England and in Northern Germany for festive markets, then I am sure that somewhere like Limerick, that traditionally does not get the same levels of cold or storm in winter as those places, could do likewise.

Buckeye

Kess73 wrote: »

Yes if we are talking about table style stalls and fold away set ups, but a lot of the professional festive markets are either solid build or vehicular in stall set up and many of those in the UK and mainland Europe do get set by rivers and they set up wind blocks that work very well.

If the wind and cold can be worked around in the North West of England and in Northern Germany for festive markets, then I am sure that somewhere like Limerick, that traditionally does not get the same levels of cold or storm in winter as those places, could do likewise.

There are way better uses for the new quays, than blocking everything up with stalls and wind fences. What's the point of creating such a great pedestrian and bike space, and then blocking both access and the view?

It makes much more sense to re-open the old boat house buildings as a xmas market/event venue, connecting the strand through to Arthur's Quay and city centre activities, and to limit the new quays to a few small vendor carts and buskers.

Kess73

Buckeye wrote: »

There are way better uses for the new quays, than blocking everything up with stalls and wind fences. What's the point of creating such a great pedestrian and bike space, and then blocking both access and the view?

It makes much more sense to re-open the old boat house buildings as a xmas market/event venue, connecting the strand through to Arthur's Quay and city centre activities, and to limit the new quays to a few small vendor carts and buskers.

I am talking a week or two in December not all year round. When the weather is better then buskers and the like would be ideal.

Really like your boat house idea though, although I always thought that would be a perfect location for some sort of river-centric museum that either focused on the river history of the Shannon through Limerick (from vikings right up to modern times) or maybe a natural history museum that had it's focus on Limerick/the Mid West in terms of scope.


Doing something with the boat house, and also the old Dunnes would make for a brilliant continuation of the Bishop/Howleys quay project and would be another step towards building city centre attractions around the river Shannon.

I think the true value of the recent improvements to the quays won't be fully appreciated until we have fine weather again, and I really do hope that there have been forward thinking folk, and there are plenty of them in Limerick, who looked at last summer's weather and realised that even a summer half as good as that would allow for some potentially lucrative and/or area enhancing ventures on the new look quays. No point folk looking at the idea of doing something there once next summer rolls around, the time to be planning the ideas (and seeking permission for them of course) is months and even years ahead.

I really hope that the quays get exploited (in the best possible way of course) for all they are worth and it becomes a fun attraction for young and old alike for years to come.

Brennans Row

Here are a few new Images taken by Sparky No.1 :cool:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky_no1/11622519073/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky_no1/11622503373/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky_no1/11622494853/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky_no1/11622490983/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparky_no1/11622268125/

Vanquished

I'm not mad about the 6 flagpoles that have popped up along the entrance to poor man's Kilkee. What exactly is the point of them? And nobody say "to hoist flags on!":pac:

They just seem like needless clutter (a particular affliction in Irish public realm projects incidentally) in an environment that already has a proliferation of bollards, service cabinets and lighting columns.

They seem especially unnecessary when you consider that the centrepiece of this new plaza area is meant to be a large mast/flagpole which presumably will be installed after the holidays.

Vanquished

They've also found a more elegant solution to filling the void between the old quay wall and the new paving on poor man's Kilkee with these attractive little granite setts.

longfellow deeds

Ok i think I've got it,
6 poloes for 6 flags.
EU, Ireland, Munster, Limerick city council, Limerick County Council
and last of all Limerick City and County Council just to keep everyone happy !
was that name really necessary?, what's wrong with just Limerick Council to cover both councils.
I wonder how many redundancies will occur as a result of the amalgamation ?
I had a walk down the new stretch last week, credit where credit's due, it's classy...

Vanquished

I wonder could a future link between poor man's Kilkee and Wellesley pier be explored?

What is the current status of Limerick Boat Club? Has it ceased to exist?

It would be great to see both the boat house and club house brought back in to use. It would seem like a fine location for a cafe/restaurant given better connectivity to the quayside.

Although both structures would require a good deal of investment and refurbishment which may not be forthcoming.

Time will tell if we'll see another attempt at redeveloping the site in the years to come.

testicle

Claws got a swimming pool last night!

https://twitter.com/navilluso79/status/419011090287460352

Vanquished

That's some volume of water!

Normally it looks like this.

zulutango

Vanquished wrote: »

I'm not mad about the 6 flagpoles that have popped up along the entrance to poor man's Kilkee. What exactly is the point of them? And nobody say "to hoist flags on!":pac:

They just seem like needless clutter (a particular affliction in Irish public realm projects incidentally) in an environment that already has a proliferation of bollards, service cabinets and lighting columns.

They seem especially unnecessary when you consider that the centrepiece of this new plaza area is meant to be a large mast/flagpole which presumably will be installed after the holidays.

Agree with the needless clutter. It detracts from the overall job.

Having strolled down there a few times over the Christmas break, I'm still struggling to see the justification for the project. It's finished reasonably well, and it will be well used, but I think a design that didn't include the boardwalk would have been nearly (though not quite) as good, and have cost a good deal less. It also would have meant that the integrity of the quay wall wasn't compromised.

johnmolloy554

zulutango wrote: »

Agree with the needless clutter. It detracts from the overall job.

Having strolled down there a few times over the Christmas break, I'm still struggling to see the justification for the project. It's finished reasonably well, and it will be well used, but I think a design that didn't include the boardwalk would have been nearly (though not quite) as good, and have cost a good deal less. It also would have meant that the integrity of the quay wall wasn't compromised.

The justification is that a lot of the funding came from Waterways Ireland. The council also got the side streets re-modelled included in the overall cost of the scheme.

1huge1

I think in the end, it came out very impressive, hopefully now we will see a lot more footfall in the area.

pigtown

There's a planning application in the Leader for a cafe on the corner of Bedford Row and whichever quay it meets. I'm assuming that this is the ground floor of that apartment building beside the Pier hotel.

zulutango

johnmolloy554 wrote: »

The justification is that a lot of the funding came from Waterways Ireland. The council also got the side streets re-modelled included in the overall cost of the scheme.

Thought the funding came from Fáilte Ireland? Not sure it matters though. It's still public money.

Vanquished

pigtown wrote: »

There's a planning application in the Leader for a cafe on the corner of Bedford Row and whichever quay it meets. I'm assuming that this is the ground floor of that apartment building beside the Pier hotel.

There's a vacant unit there alright. I think it used to be an office.

No doubt they're hoping to capitalise on the increased footfall that will hopefully materialise. Along with the new landscaped area on poor man's Kilkee just opposite which should be quite popular during the summertime etc.

There should be more interest in that vacant unit in the same complex as Milanos now too.

zulutango

It's a shame that lower Bedford Row is so dead to any kind of commercial activity. The design of the Harvey's Quay Centre about 10 (?) years ago was woeful.

Poxyshamrock

Yeah I always thought having an entrance from Dunnes onto the quays or lower Bedford Row would have created that extra bit of life in the area.

The eye laser clinic on Harvey's Quay is vacant too.

Vanquished

Design wise I think it's actually pretty solid. Especially in comparison to a lot of the rubbish that went up in Limerick throughout that era. The glazing and cladding are quite crisp.

In terms of layout it could be much better. The car park element constrains it in that respect and prevents any units being opened up on the Lower Bedford Row side.

Also the large service yard for Dunnes on the Shannon Street flank accounts for most of that frontage.