'High Line' walkway part of major Athlone project

A raised 'high line' walkway connecting St Mary's Place to the former St Mel's Terrace area is the centrepiece of an ambitious redevelopment blueprint for part of the east side of Athlone town.

The concept echoes 'The High Line', an elevated greenway following the route of a raised former railway line on the west side of Manhattan, which opened in New York 14 years ago and has been a popular addition to the city for tourists and local residents alike.

Athlone's own 'High Line' is part of a long-term masterplan for the Loughanaskin area, which takes in the former St Mel's Terrace site and land across from it on Grace Park Road.

Westmeath County Council is calling its development 'The Connector' and it is expected to run from St Mary's Place, on a downward slope, to the centre of the Loughanaskin or former St Mel's Terrace area.

The former Athlone Town Council depot in its path, which has long been derelict, along with some vacant housing between 8-11 St Mary's Place, is due to be demolished in order to make way for the project.

'The Connector' is described as "the centrepiece" of the new Loughanaskin masterplan.

"It is a bridgeway that provides active travel connectivity from St Mary’s Place to the centre of the site and beyond... The route includes a 'High Line' type raised walkway," the document states.

Details of the project were provided during the November meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District. Lorraine Middleton, of the council's regeneration project team, said demolition of derelict buildings in the area would happen in the not-too-distant future.

"We want to get going on that, to show that there is something happening and that this is not just a document sitting on the shelf," she said.

The council has been targeting the redevelopment of the Loughanaskin area for a long number of years now. A previous blueprint for its future was published as far back as 2007.

The glossy and hefty new masterplan for the overhaul of this "underutilised strategic land reserve in the centre of Athlone" was handed out to councillors at this month's district meeting.

"Loughanaskin will become a vibrant new urban quarter in the heart of Athlone," the plan states.

"The new mixed-use quarter will provide an exceptional business location for companies seeking outstanding global connectivity and the capacity to attract high calibre talent and a new centrally located neighbourhood in Athlone."

The development of the site would be almost evenly split between accommodation (including student accommodation) and commercial, office or other development. Building heights largely ranging from 5-7 stories are envisaged.

"Combining bold architecture and pioneering landscape design, it will become a thriving neighbourhood for business, culture, education and community," according to the plan.

Tentative costings included in the plan suggest it would cost tens of millions of euro to implement in full, and council Director of Services Barry Kehoe acknowledged that the development of the area would be over the long term.

"The stark reality is that it's not viable to implement that (masterplan) at the minute," Mr Kehoe told the district meeting.

"The cost of developing those lands and the intensity (of development) that's shown in that document would not be there, in terms of investment. You'd never get anybody to back it.

"But that shouldn't stop us from aspiring to make sure that this is a very high quality urban quarter that does contribute to the town," he added.

"What we're going to do now is work with the Government, through the Department, and with other agencies like the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, to see what other investment we can lever to relieve some of the costs of developing those lands, and thereby incentivise future investment.

"It will take a bit of time, but what we don't want to do is develop it as a low-rise, low-intensity area, because it has so much more potential than that, given its location."

Councillors welcomed the publication of the masterplan, which is also being published online on the council's website.

Cllr Louise Heavin said there had been "some questions" about 'The Connector' from local residents, who queried "its usefulness for getting up to St Mary's Square".

The masterplan document was "nice to see" according to Cllr John Dolan, who asked what the next steps would be in terms of its implementation.

Cllr Paul Hogan noted that he had been on the council when the previous Loughanaskin plan was published, more than 15 years ago, so he was "certainly very familiar" with it.

ton, of the council’s regeneration project team, said demolition of derelict buildings in the area would happen in the not-too-distant future.

“We want to get going on that, to show that there is something happening and that this is not just a document sitting on the shelf,” she said.

The council has been targeting the redevelopment of the Loughanaskin area for a long number of years now. A previous blueprint for its future was published as far back as 2007.

The glossy and hefty new masterplan for the overhaul of this “underutilised strategic land reserve in the centre of Athlone” was handed out to councillors at this month’s district meeting.

“Loughanaskin will become a vibrant new urban quarter in the heart of Athlone,” the plan states.

“The new mixed-use quarter will provide an exceptional business location for companies seeking outstanding global connectivity and the capacity to attract high calibre talent and a new centrally located neighbourhood in Athlone.”

The development of the site would be almost evenly split between accommodation (including student accommodation) and commercial, office or other development. Building heights largely ranging from 5-7 stories are envisaged.

“Combining bold architecture and pioneering landscape design, it will become a thriving neighbourhood for business, culture, education and community,” according to the plan.

Tentative costings included in the plan suggest it would cost tens of millions of euro to implement in full, and council Director of Services Barry Kehoe acknowledged that the development of the area would be over the long term.

“The stark reality is that it’s not viable to implement that (masterplan) at the minute,” Mr Kehoe told the district meeting.

“The cost of developing those lands and the intensity (of development) that’s shown in that document would not be there, in terms of investment. You’d never get anybody to back it.

“But that shouldn’t stop us from aspiring to make sure that this is a very high quality urban quarter that does contribute to the town,” he added.

“What we’re going to do now is work with the Government, through the Department, and with other agencies like the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, to see what other investment we can lever to relieve some of the costs of developing those lands, and thereby incentivise future investment.

“It will take a bit of time, but what we don’t want to do is develop it as a low-rise, low-intensity area, because it has so much more potential than that, given its location.”

Councillors welcomed the publication of the masterplan, which is also being published online on the council’s website.

Cllr Louise Heavin said there had been “some questions” about ‘The Connector’ from local residents, who queried “its usefulness for getting up to St Mary’s Square”.

The masterplan document was “nice to see” according to Cllr John Dolan, who asked what the next steps would be in terms of its implementation.

Cllr Paul Hogan noted that he had been on the council when the previous Loughanaskin plan was published, more than 15 years ago, so he was “certainly very familiar” with it.

He said it was a "fantastic site," with great transport connectivity, but asked if consideration might be given to adding a greenway link to the town centre towards the back of St Mary's Church and its parochial house.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke agreed that location of the Loughanaskin lands was "spectacular on so many levels" and he said the masterplan was "very much" an aspirational document.

"It would require a huge amount of planning still, and development and investment," he said.

He asked if the council had been liaising with existing businesses in Loughanaskin about their future in light of the development plans.

Mr Kehoe replied that over the next year or two the council would be "clearing" derelict buildings in the area and would be having more discussions with the existing businesses.

"We will be encouraging them to move of their own volition, and working with them to do that," he said.

"In fairness, from our perspective as a planning authority, the businesses that are there would be better located in a business park on the edge of town rather than in such a prime town centre location. We'll work with them to achieve that, and see how we get on."