I lived on a street off Francis street for a few months about thirty years ago and I liked the area.
The next time you visit Francis Street it will be very different to what is was back in September 2012 when I took these photographs.
In 2019 it was announced that work would begin on a new-look public realm for Francis Street. Following on from design workshops and a successful Part VIII planning consent in 2017, the project is now set to be completed this year. While construction work had originally been expected to start in March 2020 the Covid 19 Emergency led to delays.
With a strong emphasis on pedestrians, the plan envisaged the widened pavements and new threshold spaces to the front of the Iveagh Market and St Nicholas de Myra Church. The awkward widening and narrowing of the carriageway will give way to a consistent width and measures to reduce speeds and allow for more relaxed cycling and easier crossing. Changes to car parking and loading arrangements, 20 new street trees and landscaped areas, sustainable urban drainage measures (SUDs), new street lighting, street furniture and utilities will all serve to create a much improved street and establish Francis Street as a destination.
REMEMBERING THE TIVOLI CAR PARK AS A UNIQUE LOCATION FOR STREET ART
[Original photographs 18 September 2012]
The Tivoli Car Park was unique in Dublin and it was located next to the Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street.
The Tivoli Theatre car park, which operated separately from the theatre, offered an urban canvas for aspiring and established street artists from all over Ireland and the rest of the world.
The Tivoli Theatre started life as the Conciliation Hall in 1834. Located on Burgh Quay, Dublin 2; It was built as a meeting place for Daniel O’Connell’s Repeal Association. In 1897, it was rebuilt as a concert hall called the Grand Lyric Hall and changed name to the Lyric Theatre of Varieties the following year. It became known as the Tivoli in 1901. It was a modest sized music hall with seating for 1252 patrons.
The Tivoli closed in 1928 but for a short time continued to show cine-variety on Sunday nights. Finally closed in 1930 and the building became the home of the Irish Press newspaper group.
The Tivoli Theatre situated on Francis Street in the heart of Dublin’s southern city centre, was a replacement for an earlier Tivoli Theatre located on Burgh Quay, which had closed in May 1928.
Built to the designs of architect Vincent Kelly with seating provided for 700. The Tivoli Theatre opened as a cine-variety theatre on 21 December 1934. In the late-1930s it converted to full-time cinema use and was renamed Tivoli Cinema.
The Tivoli Cinema was closed in September 1964. It was converted into a nightclub, and a shop, before finally re-opening as a live theatre in 1987 and renamed Tivoli Theatre. The venue housed two flexible performance spaces: the Tivoli Theatre located upstairs and the Tivoli Live situated on the ground floor.
Upstairs was an exclusive cinema styled theatre with a flexible stage area and an extensive lighting grid with a vast array of options for hanging. A unique and historic theatre, having played host to a long line of highly revered and well loved actors, playwrights, musicians and comedians from all over the globe. It could accommodate 475 patrons and was a highly desired space not only for the arts but for commercial use also.
The Tivoli theatre closed for redevelopment in 2019 and has been demolished
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