Building could be demolished to create 40 new homes

The Half-Time School’s ruins cannot be saved and should be bulldozed for new flats, planners say.

Renfrewshire Council has conceded the historic building in Paisley cannot be saved and should make way for redevelopment.

RH Contracts wants to build 40 flats on the site and has applied to clear the ground.

In a report to councillors, Fraser Carlin, the local authority’s head of planning and housing, revealed efforts to preserve the building’s remains may have failed.

He said: “The building currently occupying the site was significantly damaged by a fire in 1997, which left only the masonry standing.

“It was subsequently further damaged by high winds in 1998, which blew down the eastern gable elevation.

“As such, the building now lies in a derelict state, with some walls partially standing and no roof or any interior walls, partitions, or finishes remain.

“The limited remaining exterior walls are supported by temporary propping and all are substantially affected by prolonged vandalism and coated with spray paint and grafitti.”

Councillors could order demolition of the ruins to make way for housing.

It is claimed the site is “not capable” of “viable re-use” and what remains has structural defects.

Mr Carlin says alternative options to retain what is left have been probed, but have “failed to materialise” over a “protracted period of time” and with successive owners.

The building retains its category B listed status and was originally constructed as a school and was latterly used as a nightclub.

If demolition is approved, the land could be transformed with 40 flats, built in a single U-shaped four-storey block.

The council has received four objections to razing the building — including from The Heritage Tourism Group.

It called for the remaining facade to be kept and incorporated into any future development.

Paisley West and Central Community Council had its say on the application to clear the land.

It “accepts with regret” that retention and restoration of the building appears to be “beyond hope”.

It called for its stonework features to be salvaged before any work is started.

The committee claimed the mooted development “lacks imagination” and raised fears over a lack of parking in nearby streets.

Mr Carlin added: “The removal of the remains of the Half-Time School would present the opportunity for the redevelopment of a site occupied by a derelict building.

“There have been four letters of representation — one on the grounds that the building is architecturally and historically important and should be retained; others stating that the demolition is reluctantly accepted; and that parts of the building should be incorporated into the redevelopment proposals.

“Hi s t o ric Env i ronment Scotland has not objected to the proposed demolition of the listed building and accepts that its retention and refurbishment are unviable.”

The Half-Time School was designed by Woodhouse and Morley and built by J&P Coats in 1887 near its mills.

Its classes were filled by 400 young girls, all working for the textile giant. They would attend lessons on alternate days, giving the centre its name.

It was taken into public control after law changes made school compulsory for all children in 1904.

The building then had various uses, including as a mill dining hall and fire station.

Ciba-Geigy bought the building and turned it into its social club, before it became the Cotton Club in the 1980s — a favourite haunt for footballers and celebrities.

It suffered damage during a serious fire, but was brought back into use as the Institute nightclub before the blaze that caused its closure.