Memory Lane

30 YEARS AGO

Monklands’£14 million Time Capsule leisure project was given a Hollywoodstyle launch when featured in the Advertiser of July 14, 1989.

At the time, the district council were confident the futuristic ice and water complex, due for completion in 1991, was set to become one of Scotland’s top tourist attractions.

A host of dignitaries, which included Monklands MPs, Shadow Chancellor John Smith and Shadow Social Services spokesman Tom Clarke, attended the official launch of the project at Coatbridge indoor leisure centre.

And the arrival of then Provost Edward Cairns at the launch ceremony was heralded by the theme music from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey which was blasted from loud speakers.

To add to the space-age drama, the provost was flanked by two silver-suited astronauts as he walked from his official car to the stage.

27 YEARS AGO

Spectators at Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge witnessed the last hare to be chased around the track after the expiration of the lease.

Back on August 2, 1992, greyhound enthusiasts learned the fate of their beloved track when businessman Ernie Derosa’s lease of the football stadium’s dog track was terminated by a“mutual agreement”.

The move followed a fall in both attendance figures at the track and the number of dogs entered for the Monday and Friday evening fixtures.

Mr Derosa, a local taxi owner who had formerly ran Falkirk Greyhound Stadium, said:“Dog racing in Coatbridge has taken a nose dive in the last six to 12 months; our average gate was between 35 and 40, and what was galling was that there were often more spectators on the banking than in the stadium.”

17 YEARS AGO

A former Airdrie museum was transformed into a haven for sufferers of a debilitating disease.

Back in September 2002, Parksinson’s self-help group (Monklands), applied to the council for planning permission to turn the former Weavers Cottages in Wellwynd into an accommodation centre.

But the group needed to raise £82,000 to help get the project off the ground.

Plans for the new premises were under way and the group achieved their target with the help of the Robertson Trust Lloyds TSB Foundation, partly funding the project by organising fundraising events.

Grace Croall, group chairman, was excited about the project and said:“This is like a dream come true for me. I started off the group in a room in my house and now it has grown over the years to finally see us having our own place.”

The two late 18th century cottages were later altered to form one property.