A 200 seater ‘Baby Vicar’ entertainment venue for Dublin’s docklands “will bring light and life to a dark place”.
That is according to the businessman most associated with the rejuvenation of Dublin’s docklands, Harry Crosbie in a letter accompanying his plans for a 4-star 35 bedroom hotel and the ‘Baby Vicar’ venue at Hanover Quay in Dublin 2.
The hotel and venue will be housed in a two storey glass box as part of an innovative design by PRC Architecture & Planning where the two level glass cube will ‘oversail’ the protected structure at 9 Hanover Quay.
9 Hanover Quay has been the home of Vicar Street owners, Harry and Rita Crosbie for the last 30 years and the planning application involves converting the Crosbie home to hospitality and entertainment mixed use.
In the letter lodged with the Misery Hill Entertainment Ltd application to Dublin City Council, Mr Crosbie states that Baby Vicar “will be an all day people gathering hub with hotel back up”.
He said that the diary for Baby Vicar will be run by Aiken Promotions.
He said: “It will animate and bring life to the whole Grand Canal Dock area. The small venue will punch far above its weight. It will add greatly to the cultural infrastructure of the city. It will bring light and life to a dark place.”
In the letter, Mr Crosbie stated that a typical day at Baby Vicar is maybe a small wedding in the morning, a business podcast in the afternoon and at night, an intimate supper club with a singer-songwriter workshop.
Mr Crosbie spearheaded the renewal of the docklands area and was behind what is the 3Arena today, the Bord Gais Energy Theatre while he was also a partner in delivering the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD).
Today, Mr Crosbie continues to successfully operate Vicar Street in Dublin 8 and commenting on the Baby Vicar plan Mr Crosbie said on Monday “Dublin deserves it”.
He said that the time is right for another live entertainment venue for Dublin with the public’s interest in TV and gadgets falling away.
Planning consultant for Misery Hill Entertainment, William Doran states that the hotel and Baby Vicar venue will provide a vibrant hub of activity on the waterfront and opening up this section of quayside to public use, which may link through to the future U2 Experience in the longer term.
Mr Doran states that the planned hotel and cultural venue “will bring life to an area suffering from the failure of Grand Canal Square to fulfil its objective and provide a space used by the community”.
On 9 Hanover Quay, Mr Doran said: “The applicants were the first to move into the area and start the regeneration which has seen them joined by over 27,000 residents, with a further 44,000 workers. It is now time to allow the building to serve a new generation.”
Mr Doran said that “the proposal will bring economic activity to the water edge, boosting local employment and with the entertainment venue to attract people to the Grand Canal Square and Dock area increasing the economic activity and benefiting other businesses in the area.”
Misery Hill Entertainment Ltd is re-lodging the planning application after Dublin City Council invalidated the initial application last September due to technical issues. A decision is due on the new application in April.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
