How suite it is

Until last March, the chances of a hotel opening its doors in Ballymun seemed about as likely as a blizzard in July.

For years, the neighbourhood’s reputation for crime and drug problems preceded it, fostering a host of negative stereotypes. Built in the 1960s, the Ballymun flats housed low-income families, many of whom were removed from inner city areas during a period of “urban slum clearances”.
However, the area around the flats was not equipped with the amenitites to properly serve the community. While the government spoke of schools, shops, and play areas, action did not match the rhetoric. Lack of basic services combined with high unemployment created one of Ireland’s worst ghettos.
With little government assistance, the citizens of Ballymun took matters into their own hands. Started in 1997, the Ballymun Regeneration initiative set out to revive the local economy, improve housing conditions, and develop more community facilities. Then, in 2002, the group launched Breaking Ground, an organisation committed to local art programs.
Last year, Breaking Ground enlisted the help of Kilkenny artist Seamus Nolan. Nolan decided to look at the flats from a different perspective. “The idea was to use the whole space,” he explains. “When we arrived, the doors were locked and the lifts didn’t work. It was a dead space. I wanted to reuse the space and everything in it.”
Over a 10-month period, Nolan, his partner, Lisa Marie, and a team of local artists, worked together to prepare the Clarke Tower. A group of designers scoured the flats in search of abandoned objects to transform into furniture. With the exception of the beds, nearly everything in the hotel belonged to former tenants.
The result is truly remarkable. Each room is stripped down to the bare essentials: a bed, a chair, the occasional side table. Everything is renewed; old books are transformed into chair seats and an old VCR, fitted with legs and a top, is reincarnated as a table.
In the garden room, sweet-smelling flowers are potted in old cupboards. Wall decoration is sparse save for the occasional painting found in the abandoned flats and patches of old wallpaper still clinging to the old concrete.
Since its opening on March 31, Hotel Ballymun has drawn crowds from within the community and outside the Ballymun area. Each night, the hotel’s nine bedrooms are packed to capacity. A large conference room also pulls in audiences for a variety of events. “People are using the space in different ways,” says Nolan. "Students are making films, adults are attending lectures, and kids are making mix tapes for the disco room. Even the media has its own view. Everyone has their own agenda and it’s all about different perspectives.”
The hotel’s listings represent these different interests and viewpoints. The previous night, hip hop group Urban Intelligence played to a packed house. Before that, architectural historian John Montague held a discussion on the use of public spaces. Events at the hotel draw crowds of local kids, adult audiences, and everyone in between.
The response to the project has been tremendous. “Every night, it’s booked up,” Nolan says. “It’s really sparked something. The whole idea of a hotel in Ballymun causes a reaction. I think it captured a lot of people’s imaginations. It’s amazing what happened when we put those two words together.”
Nolan’s partner, Lisa Marie, adds, “After we opened, the hotel was all over the papers. There weren’t headlines like ‘shooting in Ballymun’ or ‘robbery in Ballymun.’ The result was nothing but positive. People who have lived here for years are so pleased that something’s finally being done for them after all this time.”
While the project presented a new way of thinking about the community, Nolan never intended to overhaul Ballymun’s image. “The agenda was never to change the perception of Ballymun,” Nolan insists. “That was never my intent. We just wanted to invite people in and invite discussion.”
All good things must come to an end. On April 27, the hotel will close its doors in preparation for the tower’s demolition. The furniture will go into storage and will later furnish artists’ flats in the area. Still, the inventive use of old spaces has the power to inspire new artistic initiatives. While the building is set to be imploded in July, the community spirit sparked by the project is likely to remain long after the tower is gone.