Living conditions in Bridgefoot Street flats in Dublin's inner city are "absolutely horrendous", according to Richard Keane, chairman of the tenants' association. Yet an ambitious plan to redevelop the complex, which he describes as a "fabulous project", has been held up for 18 months. The flats, system-built in the late1960s on the site of Marshalsea Barracks below St Catherine's Church, have never really worked. Four storeys high, with deck access and no lifts, they stand as a graphic example of the failure of "public housing" programmes of that period.
Many of the ground-floor flats are unoccupied because they are "vulnerable to hostile passers-by and vandalism", according to a report by the city architect's department. Circulation areas are scarred by graffiti "and, overall, they create a grim environment", it says. Communal areas around the five existing blocks, which contain a total of 143 flats, are "almost entirely unsuccessful" because they lack definition, the facilities (recreation and clothes-drying areas) are inadequate and they fail to fulfill the requirements of "defensible space".
In November 1996, project architect Brian O'Brien devised a master plan under which two of the blocks would be demolished, the remaining three would be completely renovated to provide 54 maisonette units and 97 new dwellings would be built, mainly along Bridgefoot Street.
The plan envisaged turning the existing dual carriageway - a bleak remnant of the Inner Tangent route - into a tree-lined avenue, with its width reduced to three traffic lanes, as well as building a community centre on the edge of a new urban space facing Oliver Bond House. Two major recreation areas, adequately overlooked, also form part of the plan as well as shared playgrounds in restricted access courtyards between the new and renovated blocks, traffic-calmed streets and the provision of three sites for the development of co-operative housing.
At the time, it was estimated that the scheme would cost £12 million - including the community centre, recreation spaces and landscaping - but it's now likely to cost a lot more. Whatever the final figure, it requires detailed approval from the Department of the Environment. A spokesman for Dublin Corporation says it is not anticipating any major difficulties in securing approval and hoped to be in a position to start work on the project early next year. "The Department seems to have a lot of money now, so it should be fairly quick," he adds. For the past 12 to 15 months, according to Richard Keane, maintenance of the already bleak complex has "stopped dead", leaving tenants with dampness, condensation, leaking windows and other problems. "The only thing that keeps us going is the promise of this new plan." The corporation's community officer for the area, John Fallon, has been campaigning for years to have Bridgefoot Street flats renovated and he is delighted with the proposed scheme. But as long as it's held up, conditions will deteriorate, with the tenants left in a virtual limbo.
