COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

HEADED ITEM NO. 8

Update on development at 1 - 3, Millview Cottages and Clondalkin Round Tower

REPORT:

The site of the Round Tower at Clondalkin is the centre of the early Christian monastic settlement. The site is located at a key junction in the village today, between the commercial-retail district to the north and the leisure centre and Corkagh Park and its amenities to the west. Therefore the garden at the tower and these buildings are an important site historically and can act as a potential link to other amenities in and around the village. This project has enormous potential to bring new life, interest and visitors to Clondalkin village.

South Dublin County Council has gradually acquired two of the three houses at Millview Terrace and 15 and 16 Tower Road, Clondalkin. The Council is presently completing the process of acquiring the last house, number 3 Millview Terrace. In 2008 the Council sought to develop a new civic museum at the site of the garden which is behind these houses, and to the north and west of the Round Tower. The economic downturn postponed funding for the museum project.  In recent years the houses have remained empty  with the exception of number 15 Tower Road which accommodates a support group to aid foreign nationals recently arrived  

Following extensive liaison with local interest groups such as Rally Round the Tower, the Clondalkin Historical Society and the local Tidy Towns Committee about the need to refurbish and bring to life these buildings and their setting, a scaled-down proposal from the larger 2008 project is now being developed  

A drawing is attached as a discussion document.  Overall, the project proposed might involve the refurbishment of the houses, commencing with No. 16 Tower Road as a pilot project.  Its existing extension could be removed and the building reformatted as a small café/office/information centre to act as an early focus for the project.  This could be accompanied by the development of the front and rear garden areas as a monastery garden, in effect a small pocket park in the heart of Clondalkin.

The drawing attached shows a possible layout for the refurbishment of the remaining houses as a museum/interpretative centre for the Round Tower.  A small extension is shown linking the three houses and providing space for stairs lift, toilets and other services .

 As the Round Tower is a National Monument, works on the site, including site clearance, may require differing levels of Ministerial approval (the Architects Department will support this technical valuation and liaison). Works to the Millview Cottages will also require Part 8 Approval and the drawing tabled is the start of a discussion with the relevant community groups to develop an acceptable design for this purpose. Fruitful discussions are already underway with the OPW.

 The overall approach must be based on the development of a sustainable organisation to manage the project through its early phases and onwards into the future.  This organisational structure must be viable to secure funding for the project.  The Council has already expended public monies in procuring the cottages and to date no funding capacity for the project beyond monies already set out in the Village Initiative project exists.

 Next stages of the project will include-