Cork city's parklet experiment: five years on
Cork city's parklet experiment: five years on
Some parklets, like the original one on Douglas Street are a beloved fixture in the community. Others, like the one that was outside The Imperial Hotel on the South Mall were on borrowed time.
On a rare summer evening last month, a woman and her greyhound were enjoying the sunshine at the People’s Parklet on Douglas Street. I sat down near them, and the dog wasn’t long in making himself known to me; I patted him, and he responded enthusiastically. Very enthusiastically.
We chatted a while longer, and during our conversation, Eavan came out of Cork Flower Studio to ask the dog’s owner if she would like water for her pet. The Douglas Street Parklet might not be on the same level as the bar in Cheers, where everybody knows your name, but it’s one of those spots in the city where striking up a conversation is easy, and you don’t have to spend a penny to enjoy the sun and stake up a conversation.
What’s remarkable about the original parklet is that it’s still in existence. Back when it was assembled in the summer of 2019 it was only meant to be a two-month experiment, installed at the Capwell end of the street outside the flower shop. At the time, it was a radical idea to prioritise people, nature, and pets over private cars. That’s still a radical enough idea, but like many ideas, once embedded, they grow histories of their own and gain fans. (When it came time to remove the parklet, more than 1,000 people signed a petition asking that it remain).
Five years on, it’s still there and going strong, having hosted trad music sessions and all manner of impromptu gatherings. At the recent Autumn Festival on Douglas Street, you could hardly get a seat on the mighty little parklet. In fact, it was one of the best seats on the street. (Douglas Street is in line for a major redevelopment, currently in the public consultation stage, which will see road space converted to recreational space).
It’s fair to say that the People’s Parklet on Douglas Street might just be the best-loved parklet in the city centre. In fact, it’s hard to imagine Cork Flower Studio without the parklet, or the street without the People’s Parklet.
As Justine Looney, the proprietor of Cork Flower Studio, reminded me when I dropped by last month, parklets do require maintenance, but the effort to clean up the cans and cigarette butts that are occasionally left in the seating or plants is worth it when you consider the value it brings to the neighbourhood.
That was in full effect during the pandemic, when the city was in lockdown and people were confined to flats and houses for days on end. The parklet offered a temporary reprieve where you could sit and safely distance from other human beings or hang out with a dog in a space that wasn’t your four walls.
But not every business is as keen to grow with the parklets as Cork Flower Studio is.
When the Imperial Hotel on South Mall, or the Grand Dame as the owners refer to it on their website, changed hands in 2023, the new owner, the Louis Fitzgerald Group, conveyed to Cork City Council that they wanted the parklet removed.
T+D asked the Imperial’s new owners for details about this decision on several occasions, but they never responded. Cork City Council told us that “when the Imperial Hotel changed ownership at the end of last summer, the parklet and the parklet-partner relationship were not something the new owner wanted to continue.”
One clue could be access and parking. At the best of times, private cars, taxis, and minibuses are lined up outside the hotel, and perhaps the thinking was that the parklet was taking up valuable parking space. If it was, not much has changed, but the city has lost what was arguably its most prominent and visible city parklet. It has also lost a little locus of biodiversity.
The other issue that the parklets, and indeed all public seating, face is “anti-social behaviour,” a suite of activities that would make other people less likely to use them. Indeed, this was the fate of the Cook Street Parklet, just around the corner from the Imperial, which was moved in 2023 to Gerry O’Sullivan Park in Churchfield
According to the City Council, the location on Cook Street was a source of anti-social behaviour and was moved at the request of the parklet partner. A few years ago, T+D spoke to the parklet partner, Il Padrino, and the owner confirmed as much but added at the end of the lengthy conversation that everything he said was off the record.
Alas, the centre island of the city currently has just two remaining parklets: the one on North Main Street and a more compact one on Wandesford Quay looked after by the Lavit Gallery.
But as Siobhan Keogh, the designer of the parklets, told me a few years ago when I interviewed her in the video below, being able to take them apart and reinstall them was part of the design brief.
The parklets, constructed mostly of larch wood, are made in Benchspace, down in the Marina. In the video I made with videographer Andrei Scintian, Brian Leach, a furniture designer and musician who built many of the parklets, told us that the parklets gave space back to people.
“When you put something like that out in the world, I think it improves people’s mentality to not damage them and to take more care of their own city,” Leach said.
One design aspect that could be improved is the bike parking that comes with some of the parklets.
Like many in Cork, Michael O’Sullivan has his go-to parklets, which include the ones on Douglas Street, Sullivan's Quay outside Quay Co-Op, and the one on Pope’s Quay, but as he noted, “bike parking is a bit of a fail as the stands are not a great size for locking your bike to.”
“Overall, they are a net positive, and it’s nice to see public space for people instead of private cars.”
That’s a point reiterated by Green Party City Councillor Oliver Moran, who told T+D that “the parklets allowed us to rapidly take back parking spaces for more social use.”
But he admitted that they are a work in progress.
“They've worked in some cases more than others, as would be expected, and some are more used than others, which is neither good or bad. Even lesser used ones, like the one outside Mayfield library, still bring a value to an area that the empty parking space they replaced simply didn't.
"Where the conversation can go to next is in permanently re-greening areas. Not only the installation of parklets like we have but actually digging up tarmacked areas for more social uses. The Railway Park in St Luke's received funding for a project like this under the Community Climate Action Fund. Even at a small scale, we should look out for unused corners in areas like Barrackton (near Dillon’s Cross), even the size of a parking space, that can be re-greened and used more actively by the community."
It’s unlikely though that a parked car will ever take the place of the original “People’s Parklet” on Douglas Street.
The peoples parklets in Cork city centre as of summer 2024 via Cork City Council
Parnell Place – awaiting installation: This parklet was moved from outside the Imperial Hotel in June, 2024 and will shortly be installed outside Sano Pizza, Parnell Place. When the Imperial Hotel changed ownership at the end of last Summer, the parklet and the parklet-partner relationship was not something the new owner wanted to continue.
Wandesford Quay: Parklet partner is the Lavit Gallery.
Sullivans Quay: Parklet partner is the Quay Co-op
Union Quay: Parklet partner is the Three Little Piggies, Cafe
North Main St: Parklet partner is Tonys Bistro
Popes Quay: Parklet is currently being managed by Cork City Council and discussions are ongoing with a number of potential partners.
Douglas St: Parklet continues to be managed by Cork Flower Studio
Cook St – relocated to Gerry O’Sullivan Park: The parklet, that was previously located on Cook St, was moved in 2023 to Gerry O’ Sullivan Park, Churchfield where it is maintained by Cork City Council. The location on Cook St was a source of anti-social behaviour and was moved at the request of the parklet partner
