Phoenix: A clear vision?

Anyone walking down Lombard Street in the city will have seen that a once tragic-looking terrace of 18th century houses between The Mall and Rose Lane is being refurbished. The houses have been rendered and painted where necessary and the small shop fronts on two of them are being repaired and redecorated. The effect is pleasing and lifts what was latterly a dismal streetscape. 

It is unclear why sliding sash Georgian windows were removed from some of the buildings and replaced with PVC sashes. Had appropriate windows with small panes been installed, the street would be stunning and have added immeasurably to the physical surroundings of the Tower Hotel and the city centre. That’s an argument for another time.

A planning permission was submitted some years ago to demolish the building on the corner of The Mall and Lombard Street, as well as the whole terrace adjacent to it. This would have meant that an entire block of Georgian Waterford, including the Adelphi Hotel, the Imperial Hotel and Steamship buildings, was gone. An Bord Pleanála refused to allow the demolitions despite the city council having removed the buildings in question from the list of Protected Structures. That is why they are being refurbished. 

We can appreciate the need to extend the Tower Hotel and permission has been given for an extension onto Rose Lane, which does not require the demolition of Lombard Street, but the reality from the outset, as the council and the architects involved must have known, was that An Bord Pleanála would not allow such a demolition of historic fabric. Had the developers, their architects and the council approached this in a more conservationist spirit with a proper plan to retain and refurbish, the hotel extension would probably be built by now. It is incredibly difficult to understand how the council, in preplanning discussions with the hotel developers, would give permission for such a blank slate approach. Had the council stood its ground, instead of being understandably anxious to facilitate development, a sensible compromise could have been reached.

Most people would have thought that the days of clearing all historic buildings from a site was well and truly gone in Waterford. The city has a limited supply of such historic buildings and streetscapes, and can ill afford to lose any of them. The demolition of six or eight properties in Lombard Street would have seen an appreciable percentage of historic properties being lost. 

Waterford is not Dublin which has a huge reservoir of historic properties and streetscapes where the demolition of six or eight would hardly be noticed. Does every generation of planners and council administrators in Waterford have to relearn that? Anyway, work is underway in Rose Lane to extend the Tower Hotel in a way that the Lombard Street terrace of houses will remain. Hopefully the end product will be attractive.

There is also a current planning application to demolish the Old Royal Bar and the little terrace of houses between it and the bridge in William Street. If that application goes to An Bord Pleanála, the Royal Bar, which is a defining street corner property in good order, will be protected. Again, one wonders why the developer who also owns the Tower Hotel, and their architects, cannot come up with some sensitive plan for building and conservation, without demanding the kind of scorched earth approach, which is predicated on demolishing the last remnants of this historic part of Waterford city.

Last week, this paper’s “Looking Back” section carried the 1995 story of the proposed demolition of 16 and 17 Lady Lane and the battle to save them. The city council removed these two beautiful 18th century houses, one from 1725 and the other from 1750, from the list of protected structures to facilitate the construction of apartments. The application was refused by An Bord Pleanála and the houses were converted to apartments anyway. They are still in situ. One would have thought that this marked a seminal point in the council’s attitude to historic property, but on the Lombard Street evidence, apparently not! Lady Lane is the best example we have of an early 18th century streetscape and that’s why work to refurbish the magnificent 18 Lady Lane house, from approximately 1720, is underway. The seeming lack of a really overarching vision to develop and maintain Waterford city as the fine historic city it is does not seem to be understood universally across different council departments. That’s the only explanation possible for permission to demolish Lombard Street. The message of what the city wants and needs is not being driven home. 

The council must be congratulated on their work in the Viking Triangle, although people will know that the drive and determination of Eamonn McEneaney, often in the face of opposition from some council staff, played a big part in rescuing much historic fabric. This is the most attractive part of our city centre and it must be maintained to top international standards. Do people actually understand that the gravel areas around Christ Church are the actual graveyard of the historic cathedral? All our early ancestors are probably buried there, as medieval gravestones lie below the current gravel surface in Cathedral Square.

In fairness, our council has a lot on its plate and much good (and expensive) work has been done. Last week scaffolding was erected on City Hall, what some people call the Theatre Royal, on The Mall to attend to roof issues there. Anyone attending concerts in the Mary Strangman Large Room will have seen evidence of damp or water ingress above the windows there. But then, the building is 250 years old. Over the past generation it has been beautifully refurbished from its once Dickensian state. 

It is the council HQ and the seat of the mayor and CEO. It has to be top class. 

Waterford is in a beauty competition with other urban areas for business and commerce. First impressions are hugely important and you only get one chance. Any dignitary entering City Hall through the main foyer entrance and passing the fabulous mayoral exhibition could not fail to be impressed and would clearly see that our wonderful Waterford is no mean city. That work must continue.