NEW TOWN CENTRE - by Crawford Fulton
This time we're having a quick look at the IDC's plans for the Mall. As you can see from the illustration, the idea was to have a vast structure running from west of the Cross, right along to the Pilot's House. In the area east of the railway bridge, it would be made up of shops, offices and an integrated new railway station; to the west of the station would be a monorail (very trendy in the 60s) which would link pedestrians and rail passengers through an area of offices, civic buildings, a college, housing, a hotel, various leisure uses (cinema. concert hall, etc.), a marina and a leisure centre to the mouth of the harbour. The problems with the design are obvious: phased developments of this nature are seldom completed as planned, you are doomed to end up with a pig's breakfast; the individual bits of the plan are dependent on the others in order for them to work visually, they do not serve as 'stand alone' elements; what looks good on a model (especially, big bold lines and shapes), tends to look crude and brutal at 1:1 scale; and of course, in creating this 'vision' you are destroying the heart of the Fullarton community, demolishing a 400 year old bridge and seriously compromising the setting of an important medieval Scots Royal Burgh.
Had this whole sorry episode been avoided, through the creation of a new centre at Stanecastle, Irvine could have become a major tourism destination; especially as public interest in heritage gained momentum from the mid-70s onwards.
HARBOUR AND BEACH PARK 2 - by Crawford Fulton
We now turn to the plans for the leisure centre, which morphed into the Magnum six years later. The first thing which strikes me about the plan is the extensive amount of land which was to be developed around the centre: training areas, practice areas, a ski slope, tennis courts and, if you examine the top closely, even a stadium! I love the idea of 'club rooms', so the centre would also become a place where groups in the town could meet. I think that having a space for a youth club is another great idea. To me, this is one of he best parts of the 1971 Plan. OK the demolition of all the buildings along Harbour Street is an act of vandalism, this was proposed to make way for 'Marine Drive' - you have to remember that tarmac was viewed as very groovy at the time. So, had they kept the existing harbourside buildings and put this lot behind them, I think that we have a pretty good scheme. Indeed, it might be an idea to consider creating some outdoor sports areas (all-weather 5-a-side football pitches, a running track, etc) WHEN we retain the current Magnum and see it brought up to date.
