rents. Most of the buildings were rented by artists, producing a sudden and unexpected appearance of a 'cultural quarter' that earned comparisons with Paris's Left Bank. Though CIÉ remained nominally committed to its planned redevelopment, the vibrancy of the Temple Bar area led to demands for its preservation. By the late 1980s, the bus station plans were abandoned and a master plan put in place to maintain the Temple Bar's position as Dublin's cultural heartland. The result was that the medieval street plan survived, however rents rose sharply, forcing the artists elsewhere. They have been replaced by restaurants and bars which draw thousands of tourists. This has been criticised by some for over commercialisation and excessive alcohol consumption. Some of the more historic buildings in the area have been altered in this process, notably St. Michael and John's Roman Catholic Church, one of the city's oldest Catholic churches, which pre-dates the repeal of the Penal Laws and Catholic Emancipation. Its interior was developed to be replaced by a tourist-orientated "Viking adventure centre" which ran into financial problems. Temple Bar was used as a set for some of the exterior scenes in the film Far and Away. Between December 2002 and January 2003, the Spire of Dublin was erected on O'Connell Street. A 120 m tall tapered metal pole, it is the tallest structure of Dublin city centre, visible for miles. It was assembled from seven pieces with the largest crane available in Ireland. It replaced Nelson's Pillar which was blown up in 1966. Archer's Garage incident In June 1999, the art deco, grade 1 listed garage on Fenian Street was illegally demolished by contractors working for the O'Callaghan hotel group. Following some vocal opposition the developer Noel O'Callaghan reconstructed the Garage after he was ordered by Dublin City Council on threat of a €1,000,000 fine and/or imprisonment. The reconstruction is not an accurate replication of the original. See also History of Dublin Students Against the Destruction of Dublin Dublin Civic Trust External links Dublin Town Planning Competition 1914. A UCD Digital Library Collection. Dataset comprising photographic documentation of 444 buildings in Dublin, Ireland. A UCD Digital Library Collection. HIBERNIA: Inventories include historical, geographical, and architectural information collected from 1993 to 1995 for 1,280 of Dublin's buildings. A UCD Digital Library Collection. Economy of Dublin (city) History of County Dublin Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Conservation in the Republic of