'Limerick's ugliest building' on the way down
Work has commenced to demolish an office tower once dubbed Limerick's "ugliest building" in order to make way for the next phase of a €75m development.
Diggers have moved onto the site of St Munchin's House on Bishop's Quay and started to demolish the 31-year-old eysore.
Limerick's first purpose-built office block was previously home to Department of Agriculture offices and is located beside the newly constructed 15-storey Riverpoint Tower, due to open next month.
The 200-foot-high development is Limerick's tallest builing and is characterised by a high-tech glass-and-mirror front, which shimmers in the sunlight at the main gateway to the city on the Shannon Bridge.
Designed by Burke Kenndy Doyle architects, it is the third tallest building in Ireland after Cork County Hall and Liberty Hall in Dublin.
Phase one of the €75m project is nearing completion at Bishop’s Quay, with construction of phase two due to get underway once St Munchin's House has been demolished.
According to a spokesman for the company in charge of the demolition project, the building will be razed to the ground gradually, and it will be another three weeks before the demolition process is complete.
Once complete, work will commence on phase two of the Riverpoint project, with the construction of a further nine-storey block above a central courtyard.
Riverpoint was the brainchild of Limerick accountant,Michael Daly, whose Fordmount Properties company has an estimated €200m invested in property development in the city.
When completed, the development, which has transformed the city's skyline, will contain 150 apartments, offices, retail units, a restaurant, a bar, a gymnasium and a 250-space underground carpark.
Up to 1,000 people are expected to live and work in the Riverpoint buildings and, with this in mind, the developers are also including a crèche in the project.
According to property sources, the new bar and brasserie, due to open early next month, will be called Harris's in memory of late legendary Limerick actor Richard Harris.
