Dublin City Council has announced that the first former residents of St. Teresa’s Gardens were this morning given the keys to their new home at Margaret Kennedy Road.
The new development at Margaret Kennedy Road forms part of the on-going St. Teresa’s Gardens Regeneration Project.
St Teresa’s Gardens is located in the South Inner City of Dublin and the original complex of 12 blocks of flats was built in the early 1950s.
The construction of 54 new housing units at nearby Margaret Kennedy Road on Donore Avenue is the first stage in a major redevelopment of public lands in the St Teresa’s Gardens area.
Further stages in this redevelopment process will include the establishment of a substantial municipal sports facility, public parks, public playgrounds, cafes and crèches for the South Inner City (with a pitch the same size as Croke Park) and the construction of approximately 750 new social and cost rental housing units on public lands.
The development at Margaret Kennedy Road comprises of a mixture of houses and apartments – 38 houses (2 bedroom and 3 bedroom) and 16 apartments (1 bedroom and 2 bedroom).
A significant proportion of these housing units will be allocated to existing residents of St Teresa’s Gardens.
When the existing residents have all moved across to their new homes the 2 remaining blocks of flats in St Teresa’s Gardens will be demolished in order to make way for the new Municipal Sports Facility.
The City Architects Division designed the 54 new dwellings in house and led their consultant design team, working closely and collaboratively with the contractor Purcell Construction Limited to deliver the project on site.
Lord Mayor, Hazel Chu presented Kris Taylor with the keys to her new house in the presence of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD. Kris Taylor has been a long-time resident of St Teresa’s Gardens and has served on the Regeneration Board for the last 12 years.
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Chu said “I know Kris has been waiting a long time for this so I’m thrilled for her that today has finally come. Sometimes when you want something so much you begin to wonder if it will ever happen, but if you keep believing eventually you get days like today. I want to wish Kris all the very best in her new home. I hope she enjoys it and I hope everyone is excited to see that Dublin City Council is making progress in its plan to deliver 750 new homes for people in this area.”
Kris Taylor said: ‘I am absolutely delighted that the time has now come for us to move into our new homes. I have lived in St Teresa’s Gardens for the last 35 years. I have met many wonderful people in the flats over the years and I have lots of happy memories of living in St Teresa’s Gardens. As well as bring a resident of the area I have also been a member of the Regeneration Board for the last 15 years. Whilst the Regeneration Programme has sometimes been both frustrating and slow (as previous plans have had to be shelved due to global recessions and other reasons) I am so pleased that we have now arrived at the stage when we are moving into our new homes at Margaret Kennedy Road‘.
Kris continued ‘I am very hopeful for the future of our community. Whilst there will be a tinge of sadness about leaving St Teresa’s Gardens it is also true to say that there will always be a bit of St Teresa’s Gardens in all of us and we look forward to taking the community spirit which existed in the flats for 70 years across to Margaret Kennedy Road. Together with the other residents and families who will be joining us to live at Margaret Kennedy Road we should be able to create a really strong, caring and vibrant community. Many thanks to all of the people and organisations who have helped us over the last 20 years‘.
