Sir, - Your Environment Correspondent, Frank McDonald, was good enough to report my comments that An Bord Pleanala's decision on Dublin's Hilton development indicates that there is no protection for our architectural heritage in the face of economic pressure, and amounts to a subversion of the listing system. What is not clear from his report is exactly how this is so.
The Hilton will completely demolish 3-4 College Street (List 2); will completely demolish 37-39 Westmoreland Street (Wide Streets Commissioners buildings of about 1800, in a conservation area). It will demolish 40-1 Westmoreland Street (List 1), 1-2 College Street (List 2), Pearl Insurance Building on the corner of Westmoreland Street and Fleet Street (List l) and 33-36 Fleet Street (List 1) - while retaining their facades.
The weakness of the bord's interpretation of List 1, the "preservation" listing, was not highlighted in the report. The bord said that "preservation" allowed demolition behind retained facades. It had been accepted by An Taisce, Dublin Corporation and most others that a preservation listing generally required retention of a building's whole shell or envelope.
The Hilton will dwarf remaining listed buildings by increasing their height by two storeys and by Jo or storeys, from three storeys to seven storeys, over Fleet Street. in an era when some claim that awareness of the importance of our architectural legacy is increasing, it is surprising to find that the Hilton will be higher even than the unfortunate office permission granted by the bord some years ago, with which commentators have so often (and erroneously) favourably compared it.
For the record, it is all of this that makes the decision a subversion of the listing system. I urge any of your readers who are interested to go and check the site out - before the demolition and redevelopment starts - to see what this subversion will mean in practice. - Yours, etc.,
An Taisce Dublin City Association, Tailors Hall, Dublin 8.
PS. In view of his expressed commitment to improve the listing system, it is perhaps surprising that Minister Michael D. Higgins has remained silent on this matter.