Work is expected to start on a major new public amenity for The Liberties. Bridgefoot Street Park, one of two flagship parks proposed under The Liberties Greening Strategy, will transform a vacant site at the end of Bridgefoot Street into a beautiful landscape of trees with grassed and planted mounds and incorporating a performance area, play spaces, allotments and a community garden. The park received its planning consent in 2017 following an extensive design phase that included public consultations and on-site design workshops with a team led by Dermot Foley Architects and Dublin City Council Parks & Landscaping Services.
Among the features of the park:
- A series of designated spaces allowing for flexible use open space, allotments and community gardens, a potential café space, a terraced performance area, passive recreation and informal and formal play.
- The existing community garden will be re-located to the south-eastern portion of the site. The area will be divided into a series of organic shapes to create a playful community garden space. A portion of the existing steel fence around the park will remain intact and will serve to enclose the space. The fence will also be usable for outdoor exhibitions. A number of individual allotments will be provided on the periphery of the park.
- Lighting has been designed to ensure security and usage of the park when daylight hours are restricted. The main route through will be lit up. The formal playground area will also be fully lit up to accommodate play even during the winter months.
- The western side has been allocated for play with a formal playground surrounded by a low fence to ensure security for the children at play. A series of mounds cater for different spatial experiences. Large boulders, slides and steps would be incorporated into these mounds in such a way as to encourage children to engage with the landscape.
- The park will open to Bridgefoot Street, Island Street and connect through to Roe Lane, which runs through Binary Hub and Digital Hub.
The new park will open to the public later in 2021. Adjoining Bridgefoot Street will also be enhanced with the development of a green median, while plans are afoot to develop a high quality segregated cyclelane along the street, connecting Grangegorman campus to The Liberties.
Bridgefoot Street Park is a capital project by Dublin City Council under the Liberties Greening Strategy.
