Mixed-use proposal for derelict city centre properties

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Four vacant city centre properties that have been idle since the City Council bought them a decade ago, could be transformed into a multi-purpose building under plans being drawn up by the local authority.

Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, is proposing a three-storey revamp of the empty houses at Lower Merchant’s Road, opposite the House Hotel and adjacent to Pálás cinema.

The four two-storey houses were due to be part of the overall expansions plans for Galway City Museum, but Fáilte Ireland has decided against including them and the City Council is now developing alternative plans.

Mr McGrath has given city councillors a brief outline of the proposal for the properties, and a more detailed plan is to be presented to city councillors in the first quarter of this year.

In the briefing, Mr McGrath envisages the redevelopment to include three storeys with different uses on each floor. He said the ground floor “would benefit from a civic/cultural/retail use”.

“This use should have an active public interaction of high quality with the street. The site is located beside the Pálás Cinema and across from the House Hotel. The Museum is also located close by. There is the possibility of paving this part of the street to attract footfall between Spanish Arch and Eyre Square as an alternative route to Shop Street,” he said.
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