Heritage expert proposes ‘psychedelic colours’ for Blackrock tower

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The iconic Blackrock diving tower in Salthill should be restored to its colourful past – and repainted with strong, psychedelic colours in keeping with its art deco style, a heritage expert has said.

Last week, the Galway City Tribune reported that the City Council was planning to appoint a contractor to paint the landmark structure, a move that was welcomed by Councillor Clodagh Higgins (FG).

Now, architectural heritage specialist Thomas Quinlan has urged the local authority to ditch the drab yellow colour scheme, and instead paint it orange, blue, purple, green or red – as it was in days gone by.

Mr Quinlan, of Galway Civic Trust, has conducted colour research on the diving tower and discovered that it has quite a vibrant colourful past.

He said that the Council should consider repainting it something more colourful than the existing yellow, which “shows up all the dirt and imperfections” and needs regular repainting of the protected structure.

“I’d gone and done a colour research on the diving board and the whole area, which involved taking a scalpel to the bare stone and to the bare metal and showing up all the colours that were there previously,” explained Mr Quinlan.

“I was very, very surprised to see what bright and vibrant colours that were there at different times. Whether it was orange, or a psychedelic orange, or a psychedelic blue, a very strong green and a few others including something close to a purple, and a red.”

(Photo: Architectural heritage specialist Thomas Quinlan’s mock-up of what the iconic diving tower could look like with “psychedelic colours).
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