Plans to turn Parnell Square into "the jewel of the northside of Dublin" have been unveiled by Dublin City Council.
With the rejuvenation of O'Connell Street nearing completion, the local authority has turned its attention to a square which is "undervalued, underused and under-performing", according to the Framework Plan for Parnell Square published yesterday.
Upgrading of footpaths, lighting, trees and bus lay-bys are to be completed over the next 18 months, with the creation of a National Museum of Literature and the opening of a new northern entrance to the Garden of Remembrance planned for later years.
In the longer term, it is proposed that Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square North will be converted into a luxury hotel, and the Rotunda Hospital gardens will be re-landscaped, and opened to the public. Some €200 million in public and private investment will be needed to deliver the plan over three phases.
The first phase, due to be completed by the end of 2006, will cost an estimated €24.6 million. This includes a €12 million extension to the Hugh Lane Gallery, already under way, and the creation of an urban pergola and sculpture promenade on Parnell Square East.
Significant improvements are also planned for Parnell Street - "an uninviting place for pedestrians", which "at night times is perceived as dangerous" - and Parnell Square West, "the most run down and unattractive side of the square, characterised by heavy traffic, double-parked buses, chaotic end-on car parking; shabby buildings and even a large empty site that has been derelict for some time." To facilitate the upgrading, the number of parking spaces on the square will be reduced from 114 to 70.
The second phase, due to be completed by 2016 and costing an estimated €52.5 million, includes the conversion of the Ambassador theatre into a "cabaret-type theatre with restaurant café and bars"; the opening of a new City Children's Garden and crèche on the northwest corner of the square; and the redesigning of the Garden of Remembrance to allow for improved accessibility.
The third, and most ambitious, phase entails the building of an underground car-park to allow the Rotunda Gardens to return to their former glory.
A new north-south throughway is planned between the hospital, its gardens and the Garden of Remembrance, but with "controlled public access, on the model of the squares in Trinity College". Hospital management has backed the plan, along with local businesses. Mr Michael Colgan, director of the Gate Theatre, said the square was "once an epicentre of cultural life in Dublin" thanks to the patronage of Rotunda Hospital founder Dr Bartholomew Mosse. "Nearly 250 years later, we now have an opportunity for Parnell Square to be restored to its former purpose and glory."
The city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, said the plan was ambitious but "achievable". While it would require a new injection of public funds, he said, "we are not sitting around waiting for approval. We are getting on with the bits we can do now."
