Newbridge Chat Thread

Spin swimming pool closes in Newbridge

https://www.kildarenow.com/news/home/473602/shock-as-spin-activity-centre-in-newbridge-to-close-as-it-struggles-to-find-insurance.html

TheShow

Damien360 wrote: »

Are you mixing up the old place that burnt down that used to be on that spot. Kitchen fire that went out of control. They moved that buisness to Kilcullen but the plot, I thought, was sold on to Tougher's, and they built the hotel.

It aas the Red House long before the fire/T Tougher rebuild debacle.

Darc19

NedNew2 wrote: »

Hi, I was always curious to know the history of that place and why it is just abandoned now. Would someone in the know please spare a minute or two for a quick summary?

Thanks

We have a "historian" here in work who regaled us with the story a while ago. He's sitting beside me now telling me what to type

Fallons owned it. It was called the Red House Inn (his son owns Fallons in Kilcullen and lives next door to the Red House) and also called Red house country hotel and restaurant after bedrooms were added in the mid nineties

Prior to this it was one of the Bianconi staging inns.

It was one of the most popular stopping points on the Dublin to Cork / Limerick road. - you needed it after going through Naas!!!

Famous for music sessions and weddings and was a damn fine restaurant in itself.

You also had Toughers ballroom and restaurant/ bar next door who had many of the showbands, so between the two, it was a hive of activity.

Even after the opening of the Newbridge section of the M7, it was still busy.

In early February 2005 during prep time (late afternoon) a fire started in the kitchen and spread very quickly throughout the building. Fire tenders from Athy, Naas, Newbridge and the Army camp attended, but the building was gutted.

There had been planning already granted for a major new hotel and leisure center and the redevelopment was a joint venture with Tommy Tougher

Tommy was well known for pushing boundaries of planning and built a hotel about over twice the size of the planning and council started enforcement action against him and he couldn't get the necessary permissions, licenses and certificates to open - Tommy always thought it would be fine on the night.

There were many meetings and agreements were finally made that meant an additional psubstantial contribution to the council (€1m +) and final fitout had commenced with an opening date mooted for mid 2009. Weddings were to be a large part of the business and bookings were being taken.

Then the recession really hit and money simply dried up and it was in the end the cause of Tommy Tougher going into Nama and receivership.

The hotel never opened as the business for hotels dried up too.

In 2014 a nursing home operator purchased the building and the plans are to have a combination of nursing home, medical step down facility, hotel and film studio.

That is still the plan once the road scheme is approved.

Thanks to Jimmy beside me for the info.

He also says this should be in the Naas section

TheShow

Darc19 wrote: »

He also says this should be in the Naas section

Shelbyville you mean?

tossy

TheShow wrote: »

Shelbyville you mean?

Exactly, they aren't laying claim to anything this side of the bundle of sticks.

Here we are into Autumn and still nothing happening about Aldi opening in Newbridge.

What have they got against opening a store here?

TCP/IP wrote: »

Spin swimming pool closes in Newbridge

https://www.kildarenow.com/news/home/473602/shock-as-spin-activity-centre-in-newbridge-to-close-as-it-struggles-to-find-insurance.html

I'm not so sure this closure is fully because of raises in Insurance. I have been there on the odd occasion, and the most I ever saw in the pool was 6. Admittedly, that was a weekday evening . .. perhaps better on weekends.

WishUWereHere wrote: »

I'm not so sure this closure is fully because of raises in Insurance. I have been there on the odd occasion, and the most I ever saw in the pool was 6. Admittedly, that was a weekday evening . .. perhaps better on weekends.

Weekends it is packed.

TCP/IP wrote: »

Weekends it is packed.

Hah, ok that answers that. Thanks for the heads up.

ABitFedUp

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Here we are into Autumn and still nothing happening about Aldi opening in Newbridge.

What have they got against opening a store here?

As far as I know (local gossip mainly!)it will be sometime in 2020, I think a lot of the delay is that the council want Tom Treacy’s company to pay for a road to be created between Edward street and the Athgarvan road. They don’t want to fork out for infrastructure themselves so try to offload it onto developers as a condition of planning. The problem with the ALDI site is the developer doesn’t own all the land the council want the road created on...

SATSUMA

Does anyone know what resulted from the Millfield Manor fire debacle? Were all the apartments and houses made fire safe after it? I'm looking to buy around there, seems theres a lot for sale.

TheShow

I'd been looking for a full engineers report on any of those properties before I'd pull the trigger. I can't recall if they retrospectively re-mediated all of the properties in the development.
There may be a reason that there are a lot for sale.

GavMan

Would be surprised if any bank would lend on them and if they did, expect to jump through many many hoops.

TBH, look elsewhere

SATSUMA

GavMan wrote: »

Would be surprised if any bank would lend on them and if they did, expect to jump through many many hoops.

TBH, look elsewhere

Thanks Guys,

To be fair, they are not going cheap either! I cant find if there was any remediation work done at all. I was hoping someone from the area might have the inside info on the current situation!

Thanks

Coming home tonight had to queue from the Newbridge end of the new LIDL warehouse. This is at 20h00. Got to the bridge to find the left turn to The Athgarvan Road closed because of roadworks. I have no problem with the closure, but nobody bothered to change the light sequence. The green arrow still comes on to turn left, and that is AFTER the green sequence coming down from the Silverware factory etc.

Can nobody get their act together? It took me 25 minutes to get to the bridge. So much for thinking green - engines idling.

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Coming home tonight had to queue from the Newbridge end of the new LIDL warehouse. This is at 20h00. Got to the bridge to find the left turn to The Athgarvan Road closed because of roadworks. I have no problem with the closure, but nobody bothered to change the light sequence. The green arrow still comes on to turn left, and that is AFTER the green sequence coming down from the Silverware factory etc.

Can nobody get their act together? It took me 25 minutes to get to the bridge. So much for thinking green - engines idling.

There was a queue of cars all the way from the post office to Piercetown at the same time. I thought there might have been an accident in town.

Damien360 wrote: »

There was a queue of cars all the way from the post office to Piercetown at the same time. I thought there might have been an accident in town.

Thankfully there was no accident. What I fail to fathom is why the effing lights weren’t altered.

Are these roadworks a 1 night operation, or should I use the backroad tomorrow night?

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Thankfully there was no accident. What I fail to fathom is why the effing lights weren’t altered.

Are these roadworks a 1 night operation, or should I use the backroad tomorrow night?

They have been doing the roadworks at night/evening time for the last couple of nights. I drop the kids to school on my way to work on that road each morning and they are not around. Road surface didn’t have its top coat or lines this morning so I assume another evening after tonight to finish.

tommyboy26

anyone know when the court yard shopping centre extension is starting?

tommyboy26 wrote: »

anyone know when the court yard shopping centre extension is starting?

Sorry Tommy, I don’t know. But I wonder would the delay here be linked to the delay/dispute over building the Aldi store?

Roadtoad

What's the best pub in the town for a morning rugby breakfast (interested kitchen and good TV cover)?
Answers before 11am please!

Food failure. Coffee (and one sneaky) in Neeson's had to do me.

Cazale

Lidl are looking to demolish their shop in Newbridge and replace it with a two storey shop in the same location.

Cazale wrote: »

Lidl are looking to demolish their shop in Newbridge and replace it with a two storey shop in the same location.

I couldn’t work out who the existing discount retailer on the Athgarvan Road was as reported in Kildare Now. So that’s what they are doing. Separate to them...Is the plan going ahead to extend that shopping area behind the credit union going ahead. Original plan was demolish Kavanagh’s (now gone) and put a link road through.

chancer007

has the wine buff shop on cutlery road moved?

chancer007 wrote: »

has the wine buff shop on cutlery road moved?

Went out of business a few weeks ago. Pity, he was a nice guy but crap location.

Damien360 wrote: »

Went out of business a few weeks ago. Pity, he was a nice guy but crap location.

Also the biggest problem the demographic is not idea for a wine buff.

TCP/IP wrote: »

Also the biggest problem the demographic is not idea for a wine buff.

That’s true. Newbridge demographic would be closer to Tallaght in my opinion.

But, I was talking to him about the guys that used to be in Toughers with the wine business. According to owner of wine buff, they went out of business when the rent sky rocketed. Not sure if they went somewhere else but I thought they would never last out there but it seems business was actually good out there. Probably catching Naas and Newbridge wine people.

GavMan

TCP/IP wrote: »

Also the biggest problem the demographic is not idea for a wine buff.

I wouldn't quite go that far. To say nothing of folks that would come to Newbridge from surrounding spots to larger shops and services. Plenty of money in and around Newbridge who appreciate a good bottle I would have said. Certainly to the south and west of the town

NSAman

Damien360 wrote: »

That’s true. Newbridge demographic would be closer to Tallaght in my opinion.

I would actually agree, there may be some wealthy pockets of individuals around Newbridge but the town's dress code seems to be tracksuits and sneakers.

Didn't actually know there was an individual wine buff in Newbridge... not that I am there that often.