Hope for 'The Complex' as sale falls through and council looks at acquiring site
Dublin City Council is investigating the possibility of acquiring the former site of The Complex arts centre in Smithfield.
For nearly two decades, The Complex welcomed artists, musicians, exhibition, theatre and concert attendees and guests of all descriptions with the mission of making art and providing an accessible space for artists to accomplish that. But the space was closed last January after being issued a ‘notice to quit’.
Many attempts had been made to prevent its closure, but The Complex CEO and Artistic Director Vanessa Fielding stated that “ no workable solution ” could be found and a committed campaign that included marches and a petition with over 16,500 signatures came to an end. Now the site of the former Complex is up for sale on the private market, and Green Party Councillor Janet Horner has called on DCC to work with the Departments for Culture and Housing to acquire the site.
“The previously planned sale has fallen and there is now an opportunity to deliver a cultural space on the site alongside social/cost rental/affordable housing - which hits many of the council's own objectives,” Cllr Horner’s motion at last week’s Central Area Committee meeting outlined.
Cllr Horner revealed she’s already been in contact with the Department of Culture and the Minister has indicated an openness to the proposal. “We have lost flagship cultural and arts spaces for the North West and Inner City in the last number of months and our cultural landscape has suffered as a result,” she said.
“The Minister for Culture has said that they would be very happy and open to working with Dublin City Council to secure this site. What we need now is a commitment from DCC that they will bring the site into public ownership and deliver a world-class cultural space on that site.”
She said that this plan aligns well with the local authority's current development plan and that social housing could be delivered on the upper floors of the site. A manager’s response stated they will be engaging with their housing unit around the potential of acquiring the site.
Currently, the site of the former Complex has planning permission for a hotel, which means a feasibility study around the costs and capacity of the site will need to be carried out. A DCC manager stated that there are currently a large number of feasibility studies ongoing and that it will likely take several months to complete.
Cllr Horner added that a study around delivering social housing on the site had been carried out several years ago. She suggested that could potentially speed things up as “we don’t have to start from scratch”.
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