Back in the mists on time (on my fifth birthday ), the Galway Advertiser published its maiden issue with a then unheard-of colour front page photograph, showing a scaled drawing of the proposed Leisureland complex at Salthill. The headline written by my illustrious predecessor read ‘Galway In The 1970s.’
Just three years later, it sprang up and was opened to great fanfare — in that half century since, the venue has been a signifier of many things Galway. Iconic concerts from the likes of U2, performances from major theatre companies, momentous political events such as the PD foundation; and decade after decade of dramatic election counts.
On top of that, many people in Galway learned to swim in its pool. It was also the catalyst for summer holidays in Salthill. It had a ring of Galway about it back in the days when heading west was a big adventure.
It has been a wonderful signifier of that half century just gone....but now it is showing its age and it is time that it was replaced by something more fitting of this time. Thankfully the City Council and the Board of Leisureland, allied with the Urban Lab at University of Galway are of similar mind and this week, they have launched a consultation process that will hopefully lead to a consensus about the type of Leisureland that we will have by the end of this decade.
Chances are that it will have a different name and be something completely at odds with what is there at the moment. The footprint on which it sits, alongside the wonderful promenade will ensure that whatever is built will look out to sea, but will also provide the city and the west with the major performance and conference venue that it is lacking.
Alongside Salthill Park, the site should allow for the construction of a beautiful, modern facility that could become the emblem of a new Galway. At the moment, the city is changing and the moves we make now will set us up for the massive population boom which is expected mid-century.
By then Galway should be very different. Bus and cycling routes, potentially the ring road, the arrival of the deep dock to facilitate cruisers, the development of Nun’s Island, the expansion of both universities, the provision of greater sporting facilities — all of these will be the hallmarks of the Galway of 2050.
Central to all of this will be a landmark building of which they city and region can be proud. What is needed should be determined by the people who will more than likely be using it, and so the young people of Galway are being asked to come up with suggestions as to what they feel the new Leisureland should consist of.
It is a major regret that the only legacy of our Capital of Culture campaign is of missed opportunity, of a failure to grasp what should have been epoch-changing. Galway has quite a habit of doing this. Let us ensure that Leisureland and its modern replacement are not being cited in a decade’s time as another chance gone a-begging.
