The multidisciplinary arts space, which has occupied its current premises on Arran Street East in Dublin 7 since 2019, was issued with a notice to leave their current building by the middle of next month.
If funding to purchase the building is not forthcoming and an alternative venue is not found, the dozens of artists it supports will have nowhere to go.
But in a Dublin City Council (DCC) emergency motion passed yesterday, Green Party councillor Janet Horner suggested the historic Capel Street buildings, last used as an auction house, as an ideal location for artists in the city.
Speaking to the council chamber, she said spaces like The Complex were “increasingly rare” and that the city had lost many of them in recent years.
Ms Horner said the priority should be to keep The Complex’s artists in their existing location, but that the buildings on Capel Street – vacant for several years – would be “a perfect site” for artist’s studios.
“To my mind, it is a travesty that artists are being evicted from studios around the corner and we are not looking for every possible solution including our own stock of buildings,” she said.
Michelle Robinson, DCC executive manager for the area, said council arts officer Ray Yeates and David Dinnigan, executive manager of recreation, were currently in discussions about the future of the site and whether it has potential for the arts.
“There will be further updates on that,” she said, but refused to be drawn on timelines or specifics.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Horner said 114-116 Capel Street was originally acquired by the council for its adaptive reuse scheme, which aims to convert vacant buildings into housing.
However, council chiefs slashed funding for adaptive reuse earlier this year in favour of new-build housing schemes, leaving the future of the site in limbo.
“In the long run, it should still have a housing aspect, but there’s no point in leaving buildings without any plan for the time being,” she said.
While she wanted to see more artist spaces created through the conversion of the building on Capel Street, she said “Plan A” was still to keep The Complex in their current location.
The Complex arts venue
“They put years of work into that, people are established on site and we don’t want to lose spaces,” she said.
“But I do think that having a venue that is already such a perfect space for the arts, in council ownership right around the corner, means that we should also be exploring that.”
Ms Horner said she also had been in touch with The Complex’s artistic director Vanessa Fielding, who supports the proposal for more artist space, but remains determined to keep their existing location.
“They’re going to fight to the last breath to keep that, and I respect that and am supportive of that. I just also want to make sure we don’t miss the opportunity to do something worthwhile with the other venue,” said Ms Horner.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: “114-116 Capel Street is currently being considered for cultural use by Dublin City Council. This requires technical study of its condition, repairs or alteration and important issues such as Fire Safety and Planning Works to bring this building to the standard required even for temporary use are estimated to take at least twelve to eighteen months.
“The City Arts Office is communicating with the Complex as it considers alternative spaces and representatives of the Complex will view the building in coming days.”
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