New vision for Athlone’s Connaught Street unveiled

A new vision for Athlone’s Connaught Street, centred on reopening the Athlone Canal and integrating historic buildings on the street with the Technological University of the Shannon, has been unveiled.

The document, prepared by the Office of Public Works (OPW), with input from the Connaught Street and Environs Community Group, was outlined at an information meeting in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel on Wednesday last.

The event was attended by Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran, as well as Terri Sweeney Meade, Assistant Principal Architect with the OPW, who gave a presentation on the new vision for Connaught Street and the canal.

The plan identifies the canal as a key generator for Connaught Street, not only historically but into the future, and recommends the development of a strategy to reopen the existing stretch near the Battery Bridge, which was filled in during the 1960s.

The document also proposes the integration of more TUS-based services into the stret such as student accommodation and a potential educational hub, reusing and maintaining the historic buildings on Connaught St.

The proposal also stressed the need to prioritise the existing regeneration scheme for the wider westside, including Connaught Street, published by Westmeath County Council.

Also suggested is the development of a cultural hub in the form of a reimagined Ritz Cinema, as a new arthouse cinema or small theatre.

This is earmarked as a cultural driver for the street, given the history of the Drama Festival, and to complement the Dean Crowe Theatre.

Minister Moran highlighted the work of the local action group on the westside over the last number of years.

He said a lot of consultation would have to take place with residents and businesses and the local authority, before projects proposed could be developed.

The OPW provided advice and expertise and helped compile the plan, which he said received positive feedback from the meeting.

“Everyone wants to see something happen with Connaught Street,” he told the Westmeath Independent, citing a feeling among people on the westside that they are the lowest rung of the ladder.

Some of the ideas included new lighting, seating areas, improved footpaths and changing the colour of the road surface to raise the visual impact of the area.

Boxer cited the advice of the late Town Clerk John Walsh: “If you have a plan, you can go somewhere, without a plan you are going nowhere.”

Tim Dowling, Vice Chair of the Connaught Street group, noted that the existing regeneration scheme, although well received, places Connaught Street at the end of a series of upgrades to the westside, beginning at the front of the castle, moving to Market Square, addressing the Sean’s Bar area on Main Street and then moving upwards towards Pearse Street and Bastion Street until finally reaching Connaught Street.

He stated that if one were a doctor and were treating a patient, one would attempt to treat the most severe symptoms first, and then treat the others in tandem. He underlined that the time for action on Connaught Street is now, not at the end of a process, which he said, currently had “no definitive programme or duration”.