Sir, - An article by Rosita Boland (The Irish Times, April 14th) headed "The IFSC: one decade on there are several pieces of the jigsaw still missing", refers to the Stack A listed vacant warehouse. Padraig Rushe of the Bank of Ireland at the IFSC, is quoted as saying: "There was also the idea thatthere would be some kind of cultural centre located there, such as a museum. None of that ever happened. It's the missing bit of the jigsaw here, and a lot of people are very annoyed about it".
For those who are passing the docklands along Custom House Quay and count the number of cranes at work in this major construction boom area, it is astonishing that the Stack A Warehouse stands idle, empty and derelict. This neglected building was indeed reserved for a revitalisation plan in the Custom House Docks Development Authority (CHDDA) Master Project Agreement of January 25th, 1988. Some 130,000 square feet in Stack A were designated for a museum and cultural facilities. The floor plan of the complex approved for IDA brochures and CHDDA publicity material from 1987 to 1993 identify Stack A as "No 11 Science Museum".
The Dublin Interactive Science Centre project (Discovery) was set up in 1987 to ensure that the objectives of the planning schemes of the CHDDA and Hardwicke/British Land consortium became a reality. Discovery prevented Stack A becoming wholly retail (as envisaged in the 1994 CHDDA Proposed New Planning Scheme), saying: "The Discovery group believe that our project is completely compatible with the spirit of the authority's original planning schemes and with the conservation strategy for Stack A, that it would blend admirably with other cultural uses for this historic building and that, if a significant portion of Stack A which might otherwise have been used to educate, inform and entertain the public is `lost' to retain uses, the integrity of the authority's own vision for the renewal of this unique quarter of central Dublin will have been seriously damaged". The Discovery project is now being evaluated by an independent adjudicator appointed by the CHDDA Developer, Hardwicke/British Land.
Last year 22.5 million people visited 252 science centres and museums in Europe. The Ulster Museum is building a £32 million science centre, Odyssey, in Belfast Harbour Estate on the quays of the River Lagan, as part of the Landmark Millennium Project. We would like to ask members of the public who wish to have a science museum in the Republic to lobby the CHDDA and the Development Company/Hardwicke/ British Land, to keep their promise and let us install a science museum in Stack A. - Yours, etc.,
Rose Kevany and Noo Wallis,
Co-chairs, Discovery,
Military Road,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.