Fire in Drogheda

whelan2

Sad to see Donaghys mill go up in flames, a bit of history gone

enricoh

whelan2 wrote: »

Sad to see Donaghys mill go up in flames, a bit of history gone

A lot of dodgy heads frequent that area. I hope the walls are still sound, it'd be a shame if it had to be knocked.
It would have made class apartments, overlooking the river

Twenty Grand

enricoh wrote: »

A lot of dodgy heads frequent that area. I hope the walls are still sound, it'd be a shame if it had to be knocked.
It would have made class apartments, overlooking the river

There's an odd narrow path that brings it up to Trinity St.
I'd say it was a protected building too, so people would be wary to touch it.

Beautiful views of the river, the bridge and the park on the far bank

Saw some kids in it recently throwing stuff out of the upper windows so can't have been very secure. Did pop in and let the Gardai know and the chap on the desk looked real interested :rolleyes:

Used to get my hair cut there as wee fella.

Traffic around there in the mornings an eveings would be a factor on developing there surely? Madness to send cars onto Trinity street there, though if a way could be found to bring them under the bridge it might be a runner. Still no way I'd be in favor of the 10 story monstrosity they were proposing for the old B&B site next to it.

Can't help but feel that's a very conveniently timed fire.

I'm no expert, but the entire building went up in flames, in one of the wettest weeks we've ever had (Pretty sure the whole place would have been soaked). Apparently (i read this on facebook, so take with a pinch of salt) there was a security company with cameras monitoring that area, that closed down in the last fortnight, so no CCTV of the area since.

I have a feeling that whoever wanted to build the 10 storey apartments will now be in a much better position to say 'it's a dump, let us knock it and do what we want, or we'll pull out and you can leave it there as the hideous pile of rubble that it is'.

It all seems far too conveniently timed to my mind. Place has been sitting there for 20 years, and although I'm sure it's had fires, the sheer extent of that fire (the entire building!).. the timing of the planning permission, the general frowning about it being 10 storeys, the fact that dealing with it as a listed building would be a nightmare... it all seems a bit odd.

markc1184

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Can't help but feel that's a very conveniently timed fire.

I'm no expert, but the entire building went up in flames, in one of the wettest weeks we've ever had (Pretty sure the whole place would have been soaked). Apparently (i read this on facebook, so take with a pinch of salt) there was a security company with cameras monitoring that area, that closed down in the last fortnight, so no CCTV of the area since.

I have a feeling that whoever wanted to build the 10 storey apartments will now be in a much better position to say 'it's a dump, let us knock it and do what we want, or we'll pull out and you can leave it there as the hideous pile of rubble that it is'.

It all seems far too conveniently timed to my mind. Place has been sitting there for 20 years, and although I'm sure it's had fires, the sheer extent of that fire (the entire building!).. the timing of the planning permission, the general frowning about it being 10 storeys, the fact that dealing with it as a listed building would be a nightmare... it all seems a bit odd.

It also seemed to go up extremely quickly.

positron

Shame, running along the boardwalk listening to various podcasts, I used to turning that building into a cool co-working space overlooking the river and all, turning Boyne valley to Silicon valley of Ireland etc, oh well, suppose I will just plan in a bit more structural work into my "plans"

Lavender26

Deleted User wrote: »

Can't help but feel that's a very conveniently timed fire.

I'm no expert, but the entire building went up in flames, in one of the wettest weeks we've ever had (Pretty sure the whole place would have been soaked). Apparently (i read this on facebook, so take with a pinch of salt) there was a security company with cameras monitoring that area, that closed down in the last fortnight, so no CCTV of the area since.

I have a feeling that whoever wanted to build the 10 storey apartments will now be in a much better position to say 'it's a dump, let us knock it and do what we want, or we'll pull out and you can leave it there as the hideous pile of rubble that it is'.

It all seems far too conveniently timed to my mind. Place has been sitting there for 20 years, and although I'm sure it's had fires, the sheer extent of that fire (the entire building!).. the timing of the planning permission, the general frowning about it being 10 storeys, the fact that dealing with it as a listed building would be a nightmare... it all seems a bit odd.

+ the entire building was engulfed in flames before the fire brigade showed up, the building had been burning for quite a while before the fire brigade got to it, when they got there, it took them a further 15/20 minutes to organise themselves to start putting it out, when they finally did, one fire man was sent up to hold out a hose over one side of the building, the roof was gone by that stage. It was like pissing on a bonfire.

rgodard80a

I've heard a rumour that there was asbestos in the roof and it would be a very expensive job to remove it.

IvoryTower

happy enough if its gone if something useful replaces it, not like we couldnt do with more housing etc

Lavender26

IvoryTower wrote: »

happy enough if its gone if something useful replaces it, not like we couldnt do with more housing etc

Fair enough, but its more likely they'll throw up some cheap looking building that wont age well. The town is getting uglier as it is. Look at the likes of Carlingford, Galway, Sligo, towns that made good use of the river flowing through, the river is a central part of these town's and they look beautiful. Drogheda has so much potential with it's old medieval buildings, ancient little streets and the historical river Boyne, we have a wasted opportunity.
Theres no chance of an aesthetically pleasing building replacing the old mill, more chance of another Boyne tower job which looks worse as the years go by.

Scotty #

IvoryTower wrote: »

...not like we couldnt do with more housing etc

There's plenty of houses for sale in Drogheda, no shortage.

The OPW should have bought these buildings up years ago and restored them into a tourist attraction. A nice educational museum or something. Maybe stuck a replica famine ship in the river beside it. The one in New Ross attracts thousands and thousands of visitors to the town every year.

Retail/industrial business in Drogheda is in serious decline. Tourism is the only viable future.

https://www.dunbrody.com/