Waterford's quay role for millennium

A PLAN to transform the disused Clyde Wharf area of Waterford into a plaza with facilities for music and theatre events was announced yesterday.

The Millennium Open Plaza on the South Quay, opposite Reginald's Tower, is to be one of the largest millennium projects outside Dublin.

Half of the £1.7 million cost will be met by the National Millennium Committee, which is spending £30 million on 60 projects throughout the State.

The committee chairman and Government chief whip, Mr Seamus Brennan TD, said it was appropriate that Waterford, a city steeped in centuries of maritime tradition, should be looking at innovative river-based activities and new uses for the quayside for the next millennium.

The plaza is to be located on the site of the wharf built by the Clyde Shipping Company in the 1950s, which until recently contained a disused transit shed.

The design consists of three functional components:

a tall sculpture element, to act as a counterpoint to Reginald's Tower, which is to be set on a raised stainless steel base and will rotate slowly with the rhythm of the tides.

a timber boardwalk with seating and lighting and a new railing by the Suir.

a performance space protected by a tensile tent structure backed by strongly coloured elements which simulate Viking shields and maritime flags. A dry viewing area will also be provided.

The sculpture will have a tall, stainless-steel component with a camera transmitting images of the quay worldwide via the Internet. Its base will have 10 Waterford Crystal panels depicting major events in the development of the city.

The project, due to be completed by next summer, was selected from 51 proposals received in response to a citywide campaign for ideas from the public for a millennium project.

Mr Brennan said it was not only aesthetically attractive but would have clear practical benefits for the city. It would complement the successful new marina, also on the South Quay.

He said the intention was to make the plaza visually interesting even during bad weather and to keep open views of the river.

The Minister of State for Finance, the Waterford TD, Mr Martin Cullen, said the project would be a permanent feature of Waterford and "part and parcel of the lifeblood of the city for both citizens and tourists".

Mr Brennan said almost £23 million of the committee's £30 million budget had been pledged to date to 48 projects, including three flagship schemes.

These are the Last Light ceremony, a national event based on the last sunset of the millennium; the Millennium Family Tree, involving the planting of more than a million Irish oak trees; and the Children's Hour fund-raising initiative.