Planning permission to turn the former Viking Adventure Centre in Temple Bar into a theatre complex has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála. One of the appellants fears the theatre could turn the quieter old city neighbourhood of Temple Bar into an area of "late night entertainment".
Two appeals have been submitted to the planning board on foot of planning permission granted to Smock Alley Ltd to build two theatre spaces and a new home for the Gaiety School of Acting on the site of the former St Michael and St John's Church on Exchange Street Lower, Dublin 8.
The site also incorporates the walls of the original Smock Alley Theatre dating from the 17th century, the oldest theatre in the British Isles. Adjoining buildings - formerly a boys and girls school - are now used by the Cultivate Living & Learning Centre and form part of the site.
The proposal is to incorporate a 140-seat Black Box theatre with a bar/café and studio space for the Gaiety School of Acting. A new 220-seat theatre will also be provided in the former church and will also incorporate the walls of the old Smock Alley Theatre.
The buildings are being leased to Smock Alley Ltd by the Temple Bar Trust.
However, in his submission to An Bord Pleanála, Jason Byrne, with an address at Pudding Row on Essex Street West, says the proposal is "very heavy" on bar and green room space compared with any other theatres in the area.
"In effect we believe that with the addition of the cafe, we will have another drinking emporium in Temple Bar - dressed up as a theatre."
He believes the proposed development "does not constitute an appropriate development for the area in terms of scale, design and location of the existing building's suitability for such a proposal".
Among his concerns are that the development will give rise to "residential disamenity" and property devaluation, and he says the old city is "a quiet neighbourhood of apartments over shops. Any walk through Temple Bar of an evening proves to be a noisy boisterous one until you pass Exchange Street Upper" where he says "Temple Bar takes on a quiet tone in the evening".
Another appellant, Damien Cassidy of the Irish Heritage and Conservation Group, says the property is a protected structure and "should be used only in a manner that is sympathetic to the original architecture and use of the building".
He says a grant of permission takes no account of the historic context and histories of St Michael and St John's Church.
"The church has a history of being the first to ring its bells on the occasion of Catholic emancipation.
"If buildings such as this church are not afforded protection from the very planners who should be protecting its use then what point is there having a list of protected structures when nothing is in fact protected?"
