Are they EVER Going to Clean the Spire?

Undercoverguy · 20-01-2006 03:28AM #1

Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Shiny
Shiny
Shiny

Thats what the spire looks like to me and every tourist in the world.
Why the hell are Dublin City Council taking so long to clean the damb thing.
If i remember correctly back in Christmas 2004 they issued a statment saying that in the new year (2005) the spire would be cleaned fom top to bottom at a cost of EUR 200,000. They were just awaiting a crane long enough to do the job...... Is the crane coming from Pluto?

So are ya curious what 200k buy ya for cleaning?
RAGS and SOAPY water! I kid you not, NO Fancy Chemicals or Polish. Soapy feckin water.

Another thing, where are all these fancy lights and lasers that were ment to be beaming on it at night? They never appeared either.

Oh and before someone asks, Yes the Spire is "Self Cleaning" only "We havnt recieved enough rain" says the developer. As well as that the "unplanned" work on o'connel street has sent more grime into the air and hence made it more dirty.

'Unplanned'???? I remember the Spire being submitted rather late into the whole re-devlopement of the street dont you? They so bloody well KNEW!

WE HATE YOU SPIRE: http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/building/images/img_ts_01.jpg

Binomate · 20-01-2006 03:46AM

Undercoverguy wrote:

Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Shiny
Shiny
Shiny

Thats what the spire looks like to me and every tourist in the world.
Why the hell are Dublin City Council taking so long to clean the damb thing.
If i remember correctly back in Christmas 2004 they issued a statment saying that in the new year (2005) the spire would be cleaned fom top to bottom at a cost of EUR 200,000. They were just awaiting a crane long enough to do the job...... Is the crane coming from Pluto?

So are ya curious what 200k buy ya for cleaning?
RAGS and SOAPY water! I kid you not, NO Fancy Chemicals or Polish. Soapy feckin water.

Another thing, where are all these fancy lights and lasers that were ment to be beaming on it at night? They never appeared either.

Oh and before someone asks, Yes the Spire is "Self Cleaning" only "We havnt recieved enough rain" says the developer. As well as that the "unplanned" work on o'connel street has sent more grime into the air and hence made it more dirty.

'Unplanned'???? I remember the Spire being submitted rather late into the whole re-devlopement of the street dont you? They so bloody well KNEW!

WE HATE YOU SPIRE: http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/building/images/img_ts_01.jpg

The 'design' at the bottom of it looks like they didn't take the wrapper off it properly.

Endurance Man · 20-01-2006 03:50AM

200k to clean the blody thing :eek: , who are the hell are they hiring, ill do it.

Rb · 20-01-2006 05:25AM

200K to clean the thing with soapy water and a rag?F*ck that, who is charging 200K to clean a pole?

robbie1876 · 20-01-2006 05:41AM

Most of the 200K will go on the hiring of the crane. It's a mother of a job to get it to O'Connell St, set it up and safely operate it. I'm sure if they gave this dude a soapy rag and a good stew he'd do it for the free publicity.

holly_johnson · 20-01-2006 09:40AM

I thought it was also meant to be rust free, but I believe it is full of rust??

We all knew it was going to be a shambles, but I think it is a very expensive mistake

xzanti · 20-01-2006 09:50AM

holly_johnson wrote:

I thought it was also meant to be rust free, but I believe it is full of rust??

We all knew it was going to be a shambles, but I think it is a very expensive mistake

Yeah didnt they use some new fangled space aged metal from NASA* or something to make it???

Pigman II · 20-01-2006 10:03AM

I've heard he's also sold spires to Ogdenville, Brockway and North Haverbrook.

xzanti · 20-01-2006 10:09AM

Pigman II wrote:

I've heard he's also sold spires to Ogdenville, Brockway and North Haverbrook.

Lol

godtabh · 20-01-2006 10:20AM

I thought it was meant to be self cleaning? Mind you the lights were meant to last 20 years. How long did they get out of them 18 months?

connundrum · 20-01-2006 10:33AM

xzanti wrote:

Yeah didnt they use some new fangled space aged metal from NASA* or something to make it???

All the bits from the rockets which ended up failing the NASA missions were used in the construction of the Spike... true story

It was doomed to fail even before it was erected.

Actually I remember laughing like a schoolboy when the news were covering the erection of said Spike.. they musta said erection like 20 times in 30 seconds - good times

Jumpy · 20-01-2006 10:38AM

Pigman II wrote:

I've heard he's also sold spires to Ogdenville, Brockway and North Haverbrook.

Spiiiiiiiire, Spiiiiiiiiiiiiire, Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiire, Spi...DOH!

stevenmu · 20-01-2006 10:44AM

rb_ie wrote:

200K to clean the thing with soapy water and a rag?F*ck that, who is charging 200K to clean a pole?

Chuck Norris, they've hired him to stand there and stare at the dirt untill it runs away screaming in terror. He estimates it'll take 17 seconds to clean the whole spire.

:v:

holly_johnson · 20-01-2006 10:58AM

stevenmu wrote:

Chuck Norris, they've hired him to stand there and stare at the dirt untill it runs away screaming in terror. He estimates it'll take 17 seconds to clean the whole spire.
:v:

hahahaha excellent!:v:

irlrobins · 20-01-2006 11:39AM

I'll think you find it's meant to be shiner at the bottom than at the top. And the lights at the top are exactly what was in the original design. Don't know where ur getting your laser idea from....

http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/oconnell_street/spire_competition/design_summary.html

fly_agaric · 20-01-2006 11:49AM

Maybe they'll wait till they finish turning O'Connell St. into a pedestrian punji trap?

20-01-2006 12:15PM

Was it not supposed to be self cleaning?

Clinical Waste · 20-01-2006 12:33PM

ronoc wrote:

Was it not supposed to be self cleaning?

Yep, as in the same way your car is self-cleaning -RAIN!

Hitchhiker's Guide to... · 20-01-2006 12:33PM

was definitely supposed to be self-cleaning. think it was made by Pilkington with a new self-cleaning design ... still, the sooner it rusts away the better ... bring back Nelson

mickymg2003 · 20-01-2006 01:14PM

LOL!!!Brilliant!!

Its always the right time for a chuck norris joke!!!

20-01-2006 01:20PM

Binomate wrote:

The 'design' at the bottom of it looks like they didn't take the wrapper off it properly.

That's a design?! I was wondering!!

connundrum · 20-01-2006 01:29PM

We could all stand at the bottom of it and spit-shine up as far as the tallest person could reach? Apparently there are cracks in it already, but according to the architect 'they are not of great significance'.. looks like its gonna be another millenium clock - read it here first

"Spike to be taken down due to public safety fears".. mid 2007 I predict! :rolleyes:

Arathorn · 20-01-2006 02:20PM

Typical negative Irish Attitude, if we had the leaning tower of pisa here you would complain it was slanty. Just needs a rub down is all. Leave the spire alone it looks cool.

DonkeyStyle \o/ · 20-01-2006 02:31PM

Arathorn wrote:

Typical negative Irish Attitude, if we had the leaning tower of pisa here you would complain it was slanty.

Hey, weren't people complaining that the spire was slanty not so long ago?
tbh I think they should hang a giant flag on the top... make it the worlds largest sculpture* and flagpole.

*... or so they claim (or was it just in europe

)

Binomate · 20-01-2006 03:15PM

It's not tall enough.

Devon · 20-01-2006 03:38PM

Is it a design or is it that the steel wasn't honed properly? It looks absolutely horrible whatever it is.

bluewolf wrote:

That's a design?! I was wondering!!

drag0n79 · 20-01-2006 03:40PM

Undercoverguy wrote:

Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Dirty
Shiny
Shiny
Shiny

Thats what the spire looks like to me and every tourist in the world.

It's not dirty. It's just (purposely) shinier at the bottom. From the original description:
From its base up to about 4m, the stainless steel will be polished in an abstract design to provide a slightly higher reflective surface than the remainder of the cone.

Not sure where you got your info about 200k for cleaning it.

Riamfada · 20-01-2006 04:16PM

Arathorn wrote:

Typical negative Irish Attitude, if we had the leaning tower of pisa here you would complain it was slanty. Just needs a rub down is all. Leave the spire alone it looks cool.

Its a big metal spike thats supposed to be a ..........? monument?
COME ON!

The Leaning tower of Pisa looks cool. The Spike dosnt

markpb · 20-01-2006 04:58PM

drag0n79 wrote:

It's not dirty. It's just (purposely) shinier at the bottom. From the original description:
From its base up to about 4m, the stainless steel will be polished in an abstract design to provide a slightly higher reflective surface than the remainder of the cone.

Not sure where you got your info about 200k for cleaning it.

I dunno if you've looked at it lately but you can clearly see the brown streaks on it - it's definitely getting dirtier as time goes by.

And the bill, from what I can find is expected to be 30k. That was in July 2004 but I guess, as someone else said already, perhaps they're waiting till the work below has finished.

seriouslyme3 · 20-01-2006 05:14PM

Ok i'm back. The cleaning bill is a minium cost stated by Dublin City Council, a large amount of that money will be for the crane used to clean it.

The fancy lights were ment to be mounted from the four corners at the intersection of the spire. So one on the GPO Corner, Another where the Cafe is, One on the Ann Summers side and Finally One on the Mc Donals Side.

These WERE in the original plans from Dublin City Council printed in the Irish Times which i hope to get scanned and posted today.

The Spire is still physically sound, Its not bending or falling over and there are no cracks. A large part of these rumors were caused by the Evening Herald and The Irish Sun on April Fools day when they both Photoshoped an Image of the spire with cracks on it. They stated on a later page that it was indeed a prank however most people didnt notice this retraction and the rumors grew.

Finally.....
The Spire is DIRTY.... Get over it.
Yes its ment to be slightly more "Shiny" at the base near where the "design" is.... and i use the term Design loosely! Visit Dublin City Centre and have a proper look during Daylight. I pass it twice a day and the thing is bloody brown.

The Spire cost alot of controversy when it was erected with people saying it was going to look Ugly..... I have a feeling all those people are saying "Told Ya So".

I posted not to long ago on another message board in the states regarding how we'd spent 131million asking computer geeks questions about PPARS and it caused uproar from members on the board. They all said it was a discrace, i then went on to post a recent picture of the Spire with the caption "6 Million Needle" to which most replies were.... Why is the bottom a different colour.

I replied: ITS DIRTY

Arathorn · 20-01-2006 05:23PM

Grimes wrote:

Its a big metal spike thats supposed to be a ..........? monument?
COME ON!

The Leaning tower of Pisa looks cool. The Spike dosnt

What would you have put there then another boring statue that you see in any city in the world.
Its not famous so its a nice surprise for tourists, and it marks out the centre. Its one of my favourite world monuments
because its so simple. Long live the spire

Are they EVER Going to Clean the Spire?

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