Douglas Sh@hole!

[Two-lane]

59 minutes ago, Banker said:

Assume the date when development must start will be up in next few years when presumably it will revert back to government ownership under agreement.

"1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four
years from the date of this decision notice."

"Date of Issue:
9th July 2019"

 

[Twitch]

1 hour ago, Asthehills said:

Since when is a grant to help make something more viable for all of our benefits bailing someone out?

They’ve always had the funds then? 

[Barlow]

Follow up Manx Radio interview to Charles Guard's videos. Some wishful thinking but the boy speaks enough sense:

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Barlow

[John Wright]

Im sure we all want Douglas to be perfect. But it’s not realistic. There won’t have been a decade in the last 150 years when there haven’t been dilapidated buildings, eyesores, extensive rebuilding, building sites and holes in the ground. 

The prom took 45 years continuous building of  all the hotels end to end. There was widening in the 1930’s. The old sea terminal was knocked down in the early 60’s and a new one built. What about three palace lido dance halls in 40 years between 1880 and 1920. The Palace hotel replacing the Coliseum and Summerland replacing the Derby Castle in the 60’s and 70’s. ( both the Coliseum and Derby Castle were falling apart ).

The imperial hotel site was awful, stuck behind the Steam Packet, rotting away.

All of Big Well Street and Shaws Brow was slums and demolished and the Citadel, Lord Street flats etc was built in the 1930’s, and Clinches and North Quay in the 1990’s. The Fairy Ground went in the 1930’s and was a cinder ash covered car park until the late 1950’s. Then we got a bus station and air terminal. It’s a car park again, now. Temporary, I hope.

Then, in the 80’s we had the promenade IRIS works.

Lots of smaller stuff in between.

Does anyone remember how grey and drab the prom looked in the 1960’s? Just unpainted concrete render on the Victorian hotels, no maintenance or painting since 1939.

it’s all part of urban renewal. Creating the infrastructure and built environment of the future.

CG seems to have rear view vision with rose tinted spectacles and as a historian should know about, and understand, the never ending cycle of development.

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, Banker said:

Assume the date when development must start will be up in next few years when presumably it will revert back to government ownership under agreement.

1 hour ago, Two-lane said:

"1. The development hereby approved shall be begun before the expiration of four
years from the date of this decision notice."

"Date of Issue:
9th July 2019"

According to Gef, there is already another missed deadline:

The Minister was also pressed to give a date on when the site will see some action, especially on the bus station that was originally required to be built within 26 months of the date of the agreement May 4, 2020. However, it isn’t clear what impact Covid has had on that agreement.

Answering questions in Tynwald, Mr Thomas was evasive over the date this is now due, but said he expects the developer to make an announcement on the matter shortly.

Wasn't the developer involved with the DfE in a big way?

[The Port Soderick Herald]

2 hours ago, Shake me up Judy said:

Lower Lord St with the old bus and coach station was a lovely area at one time. I always liked it.  Now look at it. Absolute disgrace and it's been a bombsite for years. Politicians should hang their heads in shame.

The whole of Douglas looks worse now than it did in the early 1980s at the back end of the last proper recession when almost everything was run down and broken. This is the airport coach terminal from the early 1960s. Proper jet age aspirations. Now the whole area is basically a dismal shithole just as bad as the slum clearances of the early 20th Century. In the meantime billions has been spent on building a civil service empire and wage bill which has eaten the IOM alive and generated next to nothing for anyone else.

Edited June 22, 2023 by The Port Soderick Herald

[Gladys]

13 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Im sure we all want Douglas to be perfect. But it’s not realistic. There won’t have been a decade in the last 150 years when there haven’t been dilapidated buildings, eyesores, extensive rebuilding, building sites and holes in the ground. 

The prom took 45 years continuous building of  all the hotels end to end. There was widening in the 1930’s. The old sea terminal was knocked down in the early 60’s and a new one built. What about three palace lido dance halls in 40 years between 1880 and 1920. The Palace hotel replacing the Coliseum and Summerland replacing the Derby Castle in the 60’s and 70’s. ( both the Coliseum and Derby Castle were falling apart ).

The imperial hotel site was awful, stuck behind the Steam Packet, rotting away.

All of Big Well Street and Shaws Brow was slums and demolished and the Citadel, Lord Street flats etc was built in the 1930’s, and Clinches and North Quay in the 1990’s. The Fairy Ground went in the 1930’s and was a cinder ash covered car park until the late 1950’s. Then we got a bus station and air terminal. It’s a car park again, now. Temporary, I hope.

Then, in the 80’s we had the promenade IRIS works.

Lots of smaller stuff in between.

Does anyone remember how grey and drab the prom looked in the 1960’s? Just unpainted concrete render on the Victorian hotels, no maintenance or painting since 1939.

it’s all part of urban renewal. Creating the infrastructure and built environment of the future.

CG seems to have rear view vision with rose tinted spectacles and as a historian should know about, and understand, the never ending cycle of development.

I thought  that until the early 70s, all the hotels on the prom had to have a uniform external colour scheme - cream render with green window frames and doors.  That was removed and then along came the various pastel shades.  I remember my parents remarking about the new colourful prom when driving along it.

Or do I remember incorrectly? 

[Roger Mexico]

5 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Does anyone remember how grey and drab the prom looked in the 1960’s? Just unpainted concrete render on the Victorian hotels, no maintenance or painting since 1939.

Drab perhaps, but not grey.  Until I think the late 60s (maybe after) all Douglas seafront properties had to be painted cream, by order of the Corpy as seen here:

There wouldn't have been any unpainted and with the gardens etc the general effect was quite good in a uniform sort of way.  Of course maintenance inside the buildings was another matter and the building of the Palace Hotel then spoiled the coherence of the architecture in the belief that people could be stopped from flying to the Costa del Sol by providing accommodation that looked like they had.  But the general appearance was less bombsite looking than today.

[Weliveinhope]

Very few places on the Island are welcoming, and a place youd want to go and spend any time in. Not everything has to cost a fortune. Planting makes a big difference to a space if some thought is put into it. We dont even bother with proper maintenance, so we end up spending more in replacing than maintaining - which is just fucking dumb. So many areas of waste groud and pop up car parks - when will the government put measure in place to try and stop these things happening? Its not just one or two so cant be put down to luck or coincidence.

The wonderful 'town square' at the Villers bomb site - a dump, and it wasnt even nice when it was first created. I was in York last weekend and their green spaces were teaming with people, with bits and pieces going on. People wanted to be there as the surroundings are pleasant. You dont see any gatherings anywhere around the island unless theres a large event happening. Have something in the Villa gardens throughout the summer? a focal point for people and businesses.

[2112]

27 minutes ago, The Port Soderick Herald said:

The whole of Douglas looks worse now than it did in the early 1980s at the back end of the last proper recession when almost everything was run down and broken. This is the airport coach terminal from the early 1960s. Proper jet age aspirations. Now the whole area is basically a dismal shithole just as bad as the slum clearances of the early 20th Century. In the meantime billions has been spent on building a civil service empire and wage bill which has eaten the IOM alive and generated next to nothing for anyone else.

The building was functional and even now if it were still be standing, if maintained would still serve a purpose. Unfortunately govt busybodies, know it alls and Professor Ashford all pile in and whatever the outcome will be wholly inadequate, inappropriate and vastly overbudget.

[John Wright]

17 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Drab perhaps, but not grey.  Until I think the late 60s (maybe after) all Douglas seafront properties had to be painted cream, by order of the Corpy as seen here:

There wouldn't have been any unpainted and with the gardens etc the general effect was quite good in a uniform sort of way.  Of course maintenance inside the buildings was another matter and the building of the Palace Hotel then spoiled the coherence of the architecture in the belief that people could be stopped from flying to the Costa del Sol by providing accommodation that looked like they had.  But the general appearance was less bombsite looking than today.

There were lots of unpainted on Central & Queens Prom. I was only Loch that were affected by the DBC painting edict. Even then the church and Recces were grey. Plus bitumen black spiders sealing cracks.

[Banker]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

According to Gef, there is already another missed deadline:

The Minister was also pressed to give a date on when the site will see some action, especially on the bus station that was originally required to be built within 26 months of the date of the agreement May 4, 2020. However, it isn’t clear what impact Covid has had on that agreement.

Answering questions in Tynwald, Mr Thomas was evasive over the date this is now due, but said he expects the developer to make an announcement on the matter shortly.

Wasn't the developer involved with the DfE in a big way?

Steve Bradley who’s fronting it was on one of DFE boards I think probably retail 

[Jarndyce]

1 hour ago, John Wright said:

Im sure we all want Douglas to be perfect.

Perfection can wait - at this moment, many would settle for half-decent, clean, reasonably welcoming and less like a bombsite.

[Roxanne]

4 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

Perfection can wait - at this moment, many would settle for half-decent, clean, reasonably welcoming and less like a bombsite.

I parked there at the weekend and went to get a ticket and a young man told me not to bother as it was ‘common ground’ and no one could enforce a ticket. Looking around (on the parking closer to the quay) not one person had a ticket in their window. 

[Roger Mexico]

56 minutes ago, Banker said:

Steve Bradley who’s fronting it was on one of DFE boards I think probably retail 

Chair of Business Isle of Man no less:

Though he now seems to have been replaced without that bit of the website being up to date.  Because of the the important thing with websites is to pay for nice shiny new ones rather than keep them updated with useful information.