BALLYMUN'S landmark tower blocks are to be demolished and replaced by more than 2,500 new homes in a £179 million redevelopment project for the area announced by the Government yesterday.
Some 26 high-rise complexes are to be levelled on a phased basis over the next eight years as new housing units are built for the 20,000 people living in the estate. The location of these new homes, which will consist of houses and flats, has yet to be decided by Dublin Corporation.
Formally announcing the plan the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, said it would achieve something which "has never been done in Ireland before - to build a new town on the site of an existing town". Calling for its immediate implementation, he said he wanted to see construction work begin before the end of this year.
The decision follows the conclusion by the corporation that demolishing all Ballymun's tower and spine blocks is better value than renovating them. The upgrading cost of each flat was estimated at £33,339, which excluded an additional £12,000 expense to stop leaking from exterior wall panels. By comparison, each new housing unit will cost £58,685 to build.
As part of the plan, all seven 15 storey tower blocks, comprising 630 flats, and all 19 eight-storey spine blocks, comprising 1,888 flats, are to be demolished. For safety reasons, it is expected they will be dismantled instead of levelled with explosives.
The estate's 10 four-storey blocks, comprising 296 flats, are initially to be retained, although their future is to be reviewed by the project's steering committee. This committee will include officials from the corporation, Eastern Health Board and members of the Ballymun Task Force.
Mr Howlin made the announcement in Ballymun with the Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Ms Liz McManus. Members of the Ballymun Task Force, including the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, and local TDs, Ms Roisin Shortall and Mrs Noel Ahern, were in attendance.
Describing it as a "millennium project", Mr De Rossa said the plan had the potential to create a new type of housing appropriate for urban living in the 21st century.
Dublin Corporation estimates it will be at least three years before the first new unit is built, and that the first tower block will be demolished in 1999.
At least eight sites have been identified for the construction of the new units, said the corporation's principal housing officer, Mr Vincent Norton. It was expected the demolished units would be replaced by a mixture of private, local authority and voluntary sector housing, he said. An extensive consultation process with local tenants is to take place before the plan is finalised.
According to Mr Howlin, the project is to be carried out in the context of an integrated strategic plan for the economic and social regeneration of the area. The corporation is considering a number of proposals with this aim, including the provision of a municipal office.