File:Limerick - Urban Depression On Ellen Street (5771671718).jpg

Urban Depression.

I must say that I was a bit depressed when I saw the amount of empty retail space in Limerick and then I came across the "Opera Centre" which has become a stalled development.

The Opera Centre is a planned shopping centre in Limerick City. The development has received the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala. Intended as a development for the city centre, one of the entrances will face the river at Bank Place, the other entrance will be on the junction of Patrick Street and Ellen Street. The complex has been named by the developers in honour of Limerick's famous "rags to riches" 18th century soprano Catherine Hayes. The most striking aspects to the design of the Opera Centre are the two modern glass fronted entrances, set to become the flagship features. Other plans include the building of a stand alone three storey café / bar and restaurant with landscaped plaza and decking at Bank Place. The other stand-out feature to the multi-million development is the "Sky Bridge", a glass and steel pedestrian bridge, which will link a new multi-storey car park on Denmark Street with the centre at Ellen Street.

The project will involve the demolition of a substantial number of historic Georgian buildings. This has raised heritage concerns given that Limerick has the largest collection of Georgian architecture in Ireland outside of Georgian Dublin. In some cases the facades will be maintained but in general the outside perimeter will house service corridors. As a result, Patrick Street, Ellen Street and Micheal Street are likely to suffer a significant drop in footfall as the business and retail entrances disappear from these streets. The inward facing nature of the development has been criticised as being retrograde; in contrast, most newer inner-city shopping centre plans (for example that planned for Arnotts or the redevelopment of the ILAC centre) attempt to face outwards adding life to the existing streets.

The project has been described the largest shopping centre in Munster.

The Original Developer, a Belfast Company called Regeneration Developments Ltd has now sold on the plans and site of The Opera Centre to a Dublin Property Developer.