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New Garda Headquarters building to be built

  • 18-07-2012 10:04am
    #1
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭


    It wasn't in the text of yesterdays speech, but apparent;y the site that the OPW bought of GMIT a few years ago is finally going to be developed into a City & Western Region Garda HQ.

    Construction due to start new year and take about two years.

    Might take a few off the dole queues (in more than one way;))

    http://www.galwaynews.ie/26821-new-garda-divisional-headquarters-galway
    Galway is set to benefit from a new Garda Divisional Headquarters.

    The move is part of a government investment in Garda and courts capital projects with headquarters also announced for Dublin South Central and Wexford.

    The new facility for which a site has been procured will also serve as the Garda Regional Headquarters for the Garda Western Region.

    The project is expected to commence next year [2013] and construction will continue into 2014 and 2015.


«1

Comments

  • #2
    nuac
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,769 ✭✭✭nuac


    Fair enough - Mill Street may be congested.

    However I was amused by the fact that the West Galway / Connemara HQ was moved years ago to Salthill.

    Surely that HQ should be in Oughterard or Clifden.

    I recall when nearly all local Gardai lived in the areas they policed, thus acquiring the invaluable local knowledge which is the basis of good policing. Now many commute to their areas from nearby urban centres


  • #3
    Stevolende
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 483 ✭✭Stevolende


    Have been wondering what the story was with that space since i have to pass it in the bus going into town all the time.
    Does seem a long way out of town to be the local copshop. I'm taking it that it is replacing Mill St which will be closed? Rather than augmenting a conveniently placed city centre one?
    Going to be really inconvenient for a lot of people living in town if so.
    Also that road into town can be abolutely chocka during rush hours so reaction time might be slowed. though I guess cop cars will still be patrolling in town.


  • #4
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    Stevolende wrote: »
    Have been wondering what the story was with that space since i have to pass it in the bus going into town all the time.
    Does seem a long way out of town to be the local copshop. I'm taking it that it is replacing Mill St which will be closed? Rather than augmenting a conveniently placed city centre one?
    Going to be really inconvenient for a lot of people living in town if so.
    Also that road into town can be abolutely chocka during rush hours so reaction time might be slowed. though I guess cop cars will still be patrolling in town.

    Mill St is too small for it's current role, let alone a bigger one. I imagine that they'll have to keep it open but there's no details in the article.


  • #5
    sentient_6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,780 ✭✭✭sentient_6


    Question.....whats wrong with the giant newish station only 5.5km further out the road in oranmore?


  • #6
    Sponge Bob
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    sentient_6 wrote: »
    Question.....whats wrong with the giant newish station only 5.5km further out the road in oranmore?

    Thats only fit for a Superintendent but the new edifice is for an Assistant Commissioner no less. :p


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  • #7
    irishgeo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,529 ✭✭✭irishgeo


    where about is this going?


  • #8
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    irishgeo wrote: »
    where about is this going?

    Opposite GMIT beside the pitches


  • #9
    Iwannahurl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,156 ✭✭✭Iwannahurl


    I have been led to believe (no hard evidence provided) that Salthill station is to close in October. Allegedly, anyone that does not retire to protect pension entitlements will be working out of Mill Street.

    I'll believe it when I see it, but who knows, maybe my informant has been well briefed.

    Let's hope they provide sufficient car-parking for the new divisional HQ. I'd hate to see both AGS members and general public adorning the footpath with their motors, as is common elsewhere.


  • #10
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,087 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Do they already have planning for using the site?

    Interested in seeing the traffic management approach, it's a pretty buy spot, with a narrow enough Dublin Rd outside it.


  • #11
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    JustMary wrote: »
    Interested in seeing the traffic management approach, it's a pretty buy spot, with a narrow enough Dublin Rd outside it.

    Don't have a link to hand but GCC have confirmed that they're planning on removing the RAB.

    Just in case anybody is unclear about where the site is question is:

    213821.jpg


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  • #12
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    JustMary wrote: »
    Do they already have planning for using the site?

    From what I can see on the planning tool, there has been no PP application submitted.


  • #13
    what_traffic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,010 ✭✭✭what_traffic


    antoobrien wrote: »
    Don't have a link to hand but GCC have confirmed that they're planning on removing the RAB.

    True - there was an article in one of the local papers about this.


  • #14
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    Article in today's tribune

    There have been a few questions asked, so I've hightlighed relevant portions of the text.
    The long-delayed €15 million new Garda Regional and Divisional Headquarters in Galway will be built as part of the €190 million justice envelope in the Government’s stimulus plan announced on Tuesday.

    The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has confirmed that construction on the proposed 8,000 square metre facility on the Dublin Road, opposite Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, will commence in 2013. It is expected to be completed by 2015.

    The project, first mooted several years ago and progressed under the watch of the then Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, stalled in the past years due to the economic crisis but was resurrected this week as a result of the Government’s €2.25 billion investment in public infrastructure programmes.

    The Office of Public Works (OPW) has prepared contract documents for the facility, which went on public display in the summer of 2010.

    The plans at the time showed that as well as a 4,000sqm basement, the building will house prisoner cells, a firing range, offices, conference facilities and a vehicle testing area. The HQ will be accessed from Murrough Avenue and will have parking for 218 cars. The project was given a €15 million price tag at the time.

    The need for a new facility was identified years ago due to the space issues of the ageing Galway Garda Station – it is understood that the current station in the city centre will be retained as a Garda Station.


  • #15
    fergiesfolly
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,408 ✭✭✭fergiesfolly


    Murrough Ave is going to be one congested little street. Local traffic, school traffic, ratrun and now this. Going to be fun living there!


  • #16
    Iwannahurl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,156 ✭✭✭Iwannahurl


    antoobrien wrote: »
    Article in today's tribune

    There have been a few questions asked, so I've hightlighed relevant portions of the text.




    Firing range: that's impressive.

    The ERU are currently housed in a converted shed in Salthill, AFAIK.



    nuac wrote: »
    Fair enough - Mill Street may be congested.

    However I was amused by the fact that the West Galway / Connemara HQ was moved years ago to Salthill.

    Surely that HQ should be in Oughterard or Clifden.

    I recall when nearly all local Gardai lived in the areas they policed, thus acquiring the invaluable local knowledge which is the basis of good policing. Now many commute to their areas from nearby urban centres



    Retention of the Mill Street station, along with the new station in Renmore, might add some substance to the theory that Salthill is to be closed (though October 2012 sounds unlikely in this context).

    Is it likely that there would be three stations so close together in the city? I doubt it.


  • #17
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    Iwannahurl wrote: »
    Retention of the Mill Street station, along with the new station in Renmore, might add some substance to the theory that Salthill is to be closed (though October 2012 sounds unlikely in this context).

    Is it likely that there would be three stations so close together in the city? I doubt it.

    What you want two Garda stations on the west of the corrib - talk about unbalanced planning;)


  • #18
    Iwannahurl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,156 ✭✭✭Iwannahurl


    antoobrien wrote: »
    What you want two Garda stations on the west of the corrib - talk about unbalanced planning;)



    Ya wha?


  • #19
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    Iwannahurl wrote: »
    Ya wha?

    Can you really justify two Garda stations in the city west of the Corrib when, according to the last census, there are only 35 more people living west of the corrib within the city than the east?

    Planning report card must not base decisions on old data and plan services disproportionately.


  • #20
    Iwannahurl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,156 ✭✭✭Iwannahurl


    I have no idea how AGS intends to justify any of their decisions.

    There is more to the Galway Division west of the Corrib than the city itself.

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79787693&postcount=2


  • #21
    el_gaucho
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭el_gaucho


    does anyone know if the plans are still on display anywhere? I can't find them online


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  • #22
    fishy fishy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,456 ✭✭✭fishy fishy


    hilarious - by the time it's built in two years time, we won't have enough gardai employed to man it.

    cart before ass as usual. :D


  • #23
    el_gaucho
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭el_gaucho


    antoobrien wrote: »
    From what I can see on the planning tool, there has been no PP application submitted.
    The planning process is different for new Garda Stations, which is probably why it doesn't show up on the City council website.


  • #24
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    Surely this has been scrapped. They're closing stations all over the country. They're hardly going to build a new one?


  • #25
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    kraggy wrote: »
    Surely this has been scrapped. They're closing stations all over the country. They're hardly going to build a new one?

    Where d'ya think they're going to put all the Gardaí from the ones they close in Galway? Mill st is barely fit for purpose, so they need a new building without transferring more Gardaí there.


  • #26
    kraggy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    antoobrien wrote: »
    Where d'ya think they're going to put all the Gardaí from the ones they close in Galway? Mill st is barely fit for purpose, so they need a new building without transferring more Gardaí there.

    The number of stations closing in the whole of County Galway is 10. Considering some of these are only open for 2 or 3 hours a day the number of gardai in question is only a handful.

    Also, they will be likely posted to a bigger station near the closing one. E.g. the Tynagh station has closed so the garda there will probably be stationed in Gort or somewhere from now on.

    They're also cutting the number of existing gardai. There's a plan to cut the number by paying gardai 30,000 to take a career break for 3 years.


  • #27
    antoobrien
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭antoobrien


    kraggy wrote: »
    The number of stations closing in the whole of County Galway is 10. Considering some of these are only open for 2 or 3 hours a day the number of gardai in question is only a handful.

    Also, they will be likely posted to a bigger station near the closing one. E.g. the Tynagh station has closed so the garda there will probably be stationed in Gort or somewhere from now on.

    They're also cutting the number of existing gardai. There's a plan to cut the number by paying gardai 30,000 to take a career break for 3 years.

    None of that changes the fact that the minister has decided that Mill St is not capable of supporting the Galway division (or whatever the title is) in the future.

    Cost savings are not gathered from cutting capital projects (unless one is very short sighted), the "savings" gained from putting off investment often causes more monetary cost in the long run than investing early.


  • #28
    charlie_says
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,666 ✭✭✭charlie_says


    Does anyone remember this for a few months ago? Oh the irony.
    The Sindo wrote:

    Thieves strip lead from garda headquarter site

    LEAD has been stripped from the roof of a building on a site earmarked for a new garda headquarters, writes Caroline Crawford.

    Thieves in Galway took the lead from the premises, which is currently under the control of the Office of Public Works.

    The unoccupied building is on the Dublin road, across from the GMIT campus.

    The theft was first noticed on Wednesday but it is not known when it occurred.

    Gardai in Galway said yesterday they had not been alerted to the theft, but would investigate the matter.

    Work is due to start next year on the €15m divisional and regional headquarters at Murrough in Renmore, on the east of the city.

    Local Fine Gael politician Padraig Conneely said the incident showed how brazen thieves had become, adding that such thefts were increasingly common.

    "There seems to be a high level of demand for lead. A building like this is a soft touch because it is vacant and easily accessed," he said.

    "If I had been passing and saw people up on the roof of this building I would have passed no remark," he said. "I would have assumed that it was just someone carrying out repair work."

    A spokesperson for the OPW did not answer queries on the building yesterday.

    Source


  • #29
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    A lot of activity on the site in the last couple of days, slates being removed from the roof, must be intending on knocking current building to ground. Does anyone know if they are pressing ahead with the new western HQ plans? I for one have not heard anything about it recently.


  • #30
    Dan_Solo
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭✭Dan_Solo


    antoobrien wrote: »
    Cost savings are not gathered from cutting capital projects
    So how are costs cut then?


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  • #31
    Stevolende
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 483 ✭✭Stevolende


    Yeah, noticed as I went by GMIT on the bus that there was finally work going on there. Thought about taking a photo but neededa bit more warning. May take one tomorrow if I'm thinking about it.


  • #32
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,087 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Dan_Solo wrote: »
    So how are costs cut then?

    From operating expenses. Yawn. Capex is sometimes needed to make this even possible.


  • #33
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    Final demolition of the existing building underway today.


  • #34
    what_traffic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,010 ✭✭✭what_traffic


    Is there an "artists impression" of the NEW building out there in the ether?


  • #35
    buzz11
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 758 ✭✭✭buzz11


    cops_donuts-742483.jpg


  • #36
    Stevolende
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 483 ✭✭Stevolende


    I noticed the place had finally al but come down when I went past on the bus into town today. Wish I'd been more together with a camera but was in the middle of a conversation. Think somebody was bringing something out through the bushes at the side of the roundabout which caught my eye then I saw that the building was down with the exception of one wall/ chimneystack or something.
    Thought it odd that it had taken the 4 months or whatever it's been since there last seemed to be any activity with it.


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  • #37
    el_gaucho
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭el_gaucho


    There's a site notice up now, so construction should be starting soon.


  • #38
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    There seems to be developments
    http://galwaybayfm.ie/opw-progresses-plan-new-garda-headquarters-city/


  • #39
    dloob
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,831 ✭✭✭dloob


    Some work seems to have started on this.
    The walls around the site have been knocked and some prefabs have been installed on the site.
    As a result some of the road lanes around it and on the roundabout are closed.


  • #40
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    dloob wrote: »
    Some work seems to have started on this.
    The walls around the site have been knocked and some prefabs have been installed on the site.
    As a result some of the road lanes around it and on the roundabout are closed.
    The signs up on the perimeter are SIAC construction but I haven't heard if they won the tendering process. Afaik tendering process isn't finished


  • #41
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,087 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    D Trent wrote: »
    The signs up on the perimeter are SIAC construction but I haven't heard if they won the tendering process. Afaik tendering process isn't finished

    Just went past this. Serious amount of digging going on, and indeed a RAB entry lane closed.

    I guess GMIT's opening week was the best to start :(


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  • #42
    renegademaster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭renegademaster


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Just went past this. Serious amount of digging going on, and indeed a RAB entry lane closed.

    I guess GMIT's opening week was the best to start :(

    the trench at the front is for the holding cells afaik


  • #43
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    renegademaster wrote: »
    the trench at the front is for the holding cells afaik

    Really?
    Because they are putting the cells in the basement I just think it's v near the road
    Where did you hear?
    Does anyone know where you can view plans of the building


  • #44
    Naux
    Registered Users Posts: 335 ✭✭Naux


    renegademaster wrote: »
    the trench at the front is for the holding cells afaik

    LOL:D:D


  • #45
    dloob
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,831 ✭✭✭dloob


    Mystery solved.
    It's not construction of the HQ yet, it's the moving of a sewer on the site.
    Tenders for the HQ itself are not completed yet, as D Trent mentioned.

    http://connachttribune.ie/work-on-site-of-new-city-garda-hq/


  • #46
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    http://galwaybayfm.ie/eight-firms-shortlisted-construction-new-galway-garda-hq/


  • #47
    Stevolende
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 483 ✭✭Stevolende


    Seems to be creating some hassle with the bus stop. I think the bus I was on stopped, let a load of people off the bus, possibly some on, then had to move forward to allow a coach to get past the work area.
    Seems a really inconvenient place to have it, just past the roundabout. But I guess that's where the site was available so it follows that there is inconvenience.


  • #48
    Webbs
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭Webbs


    Stevolende wrote: »
    Seems to be creating some hassle with the bus stop. I think the bus I was on stopped, let a load of people off the bus, possibly some on, then had to move forward to allow a coach to get past the work area.
    Seems a really inconvenient place to have it, just past the roundabout. But I guess that's where the site was available so it follows that there is inconvenience.

    Yeah another bit of genius council planning having this work carrying on at the start of GMIT term when that bus stop is at its busiest, unlike the summer when disruption would have been minimised


  • #49
    snubbleste
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 31,117 ✭✭✭✭snubbleste


    Webbs wrote: »
    Yeah another bit of genius council planning having this work carrying on at the start of GMIT term when that bus stop is at its busiest, unlike the summer when disruption would have been minimised
    That makes no sense. Dublin Road is busy year round. The common sense approach would have been to create an entrance from the Lurgan Park side.


  • #50
    Webbs
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,645 ✭✭✭Webbs


    snubbleste wrote: »
    That makes no sense. Dublin Road is busy year round. The common sense approach would have been to create an entrance from the Lurgan Park side.

    The work going on at the moment is moving a sewer so was always going to disrupt the Dublin road no matter what.
    Its just that bus stop is much quieter out of term time as buses stop there less frequently and for shorter time hence less disruption.


  • #51
    D Trent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭D Trent


    Funds allocated for new station in Budget 2015.
    Construction to last 3yrs


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