Old Baggot Street Hospital should be used for ‘housing or a community hub’
Councillor objects to plan for Primary Care Centre at site
The old Baggot Street hospital building has been vacant for a number of years
The old Baggot Street Hospital should be used for “accommodation, a cultural centre, or a community hub, not a primary care centre”, according to one councillor.
The building is currently vacant and a portion of the wider site has been identified by the HSE as a suitable location for the development of a Primary Care Centre to serve the south inner city.
An application for planning permission for the new Primary Care Centre on the Haddington Road area of the site has recently been lodged.
However, according to Councillor Mannix Flynn, this move could “raise a lot of objections in the area” and could impact business for a number of local chemists.
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“Dublin City Council should make a tender for it, so should the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive,” he said.
“That place would be ideal for social and affordable housing. The people of Baggot Street are deeply concerned about this. It’s been lying idle for a long time.
“It would be ideal as accommodation, a cultural centre, a community hub, it has many possibilities, unfortunately the building’s interior could be problematic.”
According to the HSE, “the building has undergone limited maintenance works as is needed to protect the structure”.
“The condition and age of the building requires extensive investment, way in excess of any maintenance remit, to modernise the building to be fit for any use,” a spokesperson said.
“The HSE has engaged the services of a conservation architect to complete a report on the building and any recommendations will be included in an ongoing maintenance programme for the site.
“It is planned that the architect will prepare modelling of what the building could be developed into following extensive work.
“It will not be a suitable space for clinical services, but could operate as a meeting or administration hub. Draft costings will also be prepared.
“The modelling and costs are close to being finalised widely with stakeholders, including the Department of Health, cross governmental departments and Dublin City Council, to inform a long-term plan for the building.
“We are aware that the building was recently illegally accessed. Gardaí were alerted to this incident. The building and its security measures have been reviewed by local HSE management.”
