Bringing culture back to Temple Bar?

After 12 years of mixed results, Temple Bar wants to renew its commitment to cultural life. Can it work, asks Shane Hegarty

A helium balloon ferrying people above the city, artists working in transparent mobile pods on the streets, a retractable roof over Meeting House Square, pubs closing at staggered times, ambitious environmental projects, clearly defined boundaries. It is 12 years since the original blueprint for Temple Bar triggered radical change for the area, and now a new urban framework plan has arrived with several ideas to nudge it in a new direction.

Wednesday brought the closing date for written submissions about the plan. For an area whose regeneration history has been played out against a noisy soundtrack of opinions, what aspects of the plan are implemented, and how quickly, will be dictated by these reactions. Temple Bar, depending on who you talk to, is either a cultural centre or just another shopping district, a commercial disaster or money-spinner, a nightlife Mecca or vomit-strewn nightmare, a tourist magnet or antisocial no-go area.

"This was never seen as a rescue plan," says Seán Harrington, who compiled the plan for Howley Harrington Architects on behalf of Temple Bar Properties, talking to 60 groups and individuals as he did so. "Temple Bar doesn't need to be rescued. It is in no way some recognition that the area has failed, only that success has caused us to rethink how the area is working and how it might work better. It's about looking at how to iron out conflicts between those in Temple Bar and about synergies, or how to get everyone working together better. It is about raising standards and improving the brand that is Temple Bar."

He believes that if anything were to be implemented it should be the plans for improving the public domain through signs, lighting, greenery and street furniture. It also means tackling antisocial behaviour, to improve the area for both visitors and its 3,000 residents, through some radical measures. There have been suspicions that, because the report is partly funded by Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter (TASCQ), a body that represents 40 of the 300 traders in the area, it cannot hope to be objective; that publicans, restaurateurs and shopkeepers will dictate the beat of the city's cultural heart.

Harrington, though, insists he was allowed complete independence, and the plan certainly contains suggestions that will displease some. Most notable is the idea that pubs agree to stagger their closing hours to help the flow of people, that the problem of bad doormen be addressed and that some food outlets close early, as they act as magnets for trouble.

"There has been a broad range of reaction," says Martin Harte of TASCQ, "but they are generally happy with it, even if some feel that there are elements which are unfairly critical to particular groups." Such suggestions as encouraging pubs to add a little more culture to their entertainment might have raised a sceptical eyebrow or two, but Harte believes the only future is for a joint approach. "The cultural sector and hospitality sector have really one and the same aim, which is to get people in. A number of cultural organisations have joined TASCQ in the past two months, so now they can sit down with the retailers and talk, work closer together and understand each other. This is the first really positive step."

The one question often asked by those surveyed by Harrington was not new: "where's the culture?" Dermot McLaughlin, chief executive of Temple Bar Properties, insists it's there - and says success isn't as good a headline grabber as failure.

He still feels the balance should be addressed, however. "Temple Bar will become more focused on culture. That's just a fact, and I'm happy to come back in a year's time and be tested on that - and the year after and the year after. Arts organisations are not exactly cash rich these days, so I think the cultural part of the plan is going to be a lot more to do with attitude than money.

"There are two reasons to do it. One is to improve the image of the area, which is changing as we speak. Equally important is that there's a business issue for each of the organisations, because let's not forget that a large amount of potential customers are walking around but very often the doors are closed. Now it doesn't take a very expensive consultant to tell you that you have to connect these people."

The most notable proposal for re-energising the artistic atmosphere is for "seedbed pods": transparent, mobile containers placed on the streets as working spaces for artists. It would be a way of addressing the fact that the days when artists could find cheap space in Temple Bar are long gone - and one that, says McLaughlin, would transform the area overnight.

Critics point to the closed doors of Arthouse and DesignYard, however, and to the continuing uncertainty about the building formerly used by Dublin's Viking Adventure as the most visible aspects of the area's artistic and commercial bankruptcy. These individual problems are not dealt with in the plan, but McLaughlin's weariness with the issue is obvious. "At the Viking centre there's been all sorts of half-facts about that. Sustainable Ireland's interpretative centre has been there for years, and for an organisation that organises the world's largest festival on sustainability, has all sorts of classes and a small coffee shop in there, it amazes me that people deny its existence all the time."

Having been designed for a purpose, it is proving inflexible for other needs, and even yet it could revert to being a consecrated church. So, despite a tendering process, it seems unlikely that it will become a single-use building any time soon, instead continuing to house Sustainable Ireland downstairs and rehearsal space upstairs. "What that process showed was that there is no arts or cultural organisation that either has resources or access to resources to do anything on that scale in the space."

The DesignYard building has become the new home of Temple Bar Properties, with an information centre proving increasingly popular, even if the design of the entrance intimidates rather than welcomes. As for the all too visible problem of the Arthouse building, which has been largely empty since 2002, it hasn't helped that, after being awarded the tender, only then did the Ark, the children's cultural centre on Eustace Street, commission a feasibility study on whether the building would suit its programmes.

It's a pressured time for Temple Bar Properties, although there was hardly a time when it was not. John Fitzgerald, the city manager, recently ordered a review of the structure of the organisation's board. This, according to Fitzgerald, is not a belated response to the city council taking over management of Temple Bar two years ago but a reaction to a lack of representation on the part of the West End and the residents, so a board member has been added on behalf of each. "This is only an intermediate solution," he says. "There is a danger of the board becoming unwieldy, and simply adding members is certainly not the answer."

When the board comes to the end of its term discussions with the various interest groups will likely lead to a restructuring, with the most likely result being a smaller, more focused board.

Fitzgerald believes the urban framework plan is impressive, with some of the ideas applicable to other areas of the city. He welcomes the fact that it sets out a vision rather than dealing, at this stage, with the detail of costs. Ultimately, funding will come from Temple Bar Properties, local businesses and the city council.

The most eye-popping idea in the plan may well prove one of the more lucrative. Harrington suggests a helium balloon as Dublin's version of the London Eye, carrying 30 passengers a time to a height of 200 metres. The intent is to bring people into Temple Bar, particularly the problematic western end of the area. "We're still looking at the technical and financial sides of that," says McLaughlin. "It could then be a few months to a year to make it happen. But I'd be looking at this from a number of angles. There's the increased perception of the area, the vast tourist potential and the income. It could be a great help, because every cent of our income goes back in to the area."

With the plan suggesting a new way in to Temple Bar from College Green and the restriction of traffic along the quays, it could alter the area around it, but initial changes will be subtler. By this time next year, believes McLaughlin, there will be obvious progress in the areas already included in the general upkeep of the area, such as street furniture, bins, waste and signs.

The coming months will give a good idea about the timetable for implementing the plan. There has been surprise at the relative consensus so far, although they expect debate as the details are picked over. McLaughlin believes the appetite is there to take Temple Bar to the next stage. "I think it helps that they see their own words in parts of this plan, but I know from my discussions with the residents that the last thing they want is an intensive publication that looks good but does nothing. They're bored with good intentions but not seeing results."