The Health Service Executive (HSE) has commissioned conservation architects to explore future usage options for the former Baggot Street Hospital, according to a high-ranking HSE representative. It may potentially serve as an administrative or meeting centre. Despite requests from locals and city councillors for the disused Victorian era hospital to be repurposed for housing or social and cultural functions, HSE’s Community Healthcare East division’s chief officer, Aisling Heffernan, indicated that the structure is more likely to be transformed into office spaces.
Ms Heffernan explained that the architects are working on modelling future development possibilities for the building, which would not be suitable for medical services, but could function as an administrative centre or meeting point. The hospital was officially called the Royal City of Dublin Hospital and dates back to 1832, but has been out of operation since 1987. Sections of the building located on Haddington Road were in function as drug treatment and community service facilities until 2019.
Ever since, the building has remained vacant, deteriorated significantly and faced several break-ins. Nonetheless, Ms Heffernan added that the building is still registered on the “intra-State property register”, granting priority to other State organisations over properties.
Local Fine Gael council member James Geoghegan urged immediate transfer of the building’s ownership to the council from the HSE. He expressed his disappointment over the building standing idle for four years, with the HSE’s best proposal being to convert it into offices. He furthermore suggested, due to the recent decline in commercial property market and especially for older buildings, transferring the building to Dublin City Council, if the HSE has no plans to use it for clinical services, would avoid financial losses from selling it for office use.
“The HSE hasn’t done much with this edifice in the past four years and it’s been a liability on their financial records,” he asserted. “The appropriate authority to decide the building’s future is the city council, with the local community also contributing their suggestions. Possibilities could include low-cost accommodation, an art workshop, or another community function. Why not transfer ownership and end this long-running narrative?”
The Pembroke Road Association, a local group of residents, put forward a proposal to the Health Department last year suggesting that the building can be transformed into a Viking Dublin museum.
“The building’s refurbishment would facilitate and endorse the preservation of the internal architecture. The spacious ward areas are apt for display galleries, thereby conserving the original spirit of the building,” it stated.
On the other hand, a HSE representative stated that the building’s destiny is still “undergoing a service review.”