THRIVE - the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme - was launched by Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Kieran O'Donnell TD. The scheme is run under Ireland's two European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Regional Programmes and is providing €120 million to support local authorities and their citizens to re-imagine town centres and to transform publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings within those town centres through renovation, renewal, and adaptive reuse. THRIVE is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
THRIVE incorporates the core values of the New European Bauhaus - sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion. The scheme promotes a citizen-centred community-led approach to planning, design and project selection under the Town Centre First Framework. THRIVE is targeted at larger urban settlements - cities, regional growth centres and key towns - and is focused on publicly owned heritage buildings. Heritage buildings under the scheme are classified as structures that form part of the architectural heritage and have unique architectural, historical, archaeological or artistic qualities, or are linked to the cultural and economic history of a place.
THRIVE launched two calls for applications in February 2024.
Strand 1 applications relate to:
- integrated urban strategies and project pipeline development, including for the development and enhancement of integrated urban strategies,
- identification of projects that promote the conservation and adaptive reuse of our built heritage stock while reducing vacancy and dereliction in town centres,
- prioritisation, development and specification of project proposals to create a pipeline of investment-ready built heritage refurbishments, renovation and adaptive reuse projects.
Strand 2 applications relate to:
- Renovation and adaptive reuse of vacant or derelict heritage buildings.
- Delivery of selected pilot and pathfinder projects that will have a positive and transformative impact on town centre vacancy and dereliction and that will inform the approach for other towns at earlier stages in the process.
In April 2024, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council submitted an application for funding under Strand 1 for an integrated urban study and the development of proposals for reuse of vacant buildings on George’s Place and Kelly’s Avenue, Dún Laoghaire. This application was approved in May 2024 with €200,000 funding awarded.
The aim of the Integrated Urban Study titled ‘Reimagining George's Place - Revitalising through Reuse’ is to identify uses and develop proposals for the reuse of no. 9 George’s Place and the adjacent former washhouse on Kelly’s Avenue, two local authority owned buildings. Previously these protected structures have been occupied as a hotel, a wash house, council stores and offices. AP+E Architects, Prescience and Livia Hurley Conservation Consultant have been appointed as consultants to carry out the Integrated Urban Study.
As part of this project, we invited everyone to take part in an online public consultation survey (closed on 31 October) where we gathered information from a wide range of stakeholders and potential users to support the future development of new facilities at this location. We held drop-in workshops on Monday 7 October and Saturday 19 October in the ground floor of the former Wash House building, as part of the public consultation. At these workshops we asked for ideas and suggestions about the future use of these remarkable buildings.
The Integrated Urban Study has been completed and following the two successful public consultation drop-in workshops in the former Wash House and an online survey to gather suggestions and ideas for the reuse of these important protected structures, the design for a Centre for Creative Lifelong Learning was developed. The proposed plans integrate key themes and feedback from the public consultation into the final design of these significant heritage buildings.
The Part 8 planning for the reuse and extension of No. 9 George’s Place and the former Wash House as a Centre for Creative Lifelong Learning was agreed at the Council meeting on 14 April. Subsequently, an application for capital works funding under THRIVE Strand 2 has been submitted.
This THRIVE – Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-2027.
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