Art school agony as demolition of the Mack begins
‘Collapse becomes more likely’ ‘There are loads of casualties’
DEMOLITION work on the fire-ravaged remains of the Glasgow School of Art will begin today.
A blaze destroyed the iconic Mackintosh Building last month, four years after it was gutted in another fire.
The building was so badly damaged that an exclusion zone was set up around it amid fears it could collapse ‘without warning’.
Yesterday, it emerged that work to dismantle the remains of the building will start this morning. The move was announced during a meeting of doznext. ens of residents who have been unable to return to their homes since the fire on June 15.
The Scottish and UK governments said they are ready to provide financial support for reconstruction. But last month experts said the bill to restore Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s masterpiece could soar beyond £100million.
Fire chiefs stressed the ‘very complex’ investigation into the blaze will take time.
The gutted Mackintosh Building – known affectionately as The Mack – was secure enough to be assessed by a team of experts on June 18.
After the assessment, GSA director Professor Tom Inns said it was ‘not beyond saving’. But further survey work revealed the building’s south facade was the most seriously affected by the fire.
Building control officers also found that its west gable had severely deteriorated since the blaze and that the east gable was being pushed outwards as a result.
Raymond Barlow, Glasgow City Council’s head of building control, said: ‘With each passing day, a sudden collapse becomes more likely.’
Council leader Susan Aitken told residents they may have to wait for up to three months before they can move back in.
She told the Garnethill Displaced Residents Group meeting that details of how to access a council and Scottish Government-backed hardship fund, entitling each affected household to £3,000, would be available from today.
Garnethill Community Council chairman Jane Sutherland said: ‘People need information so that they know where they’re going to move The city needs to be in a position to say to people: “This is going to be two months, three months”.
‘[It needs to] make the place safe so that folk can at least start getting on with their lives and making plans for how they manage when they haven’t got access to their homes or their businesses.
‘All the emphasis has been on the building and saying that there’s no casualties to this fire. There are – there are loads of casualties to this fire – all the 33 households and the 350 employees of the businesses in the cordon.’
The building was undergoing a restoration, set to cost between £20million and £35million, when the fire broke out. It led to calls for a public inquiry amid anger that one of Scotland’s most prized architectural treasures had been razed for a second time in just a few years.
The 2014 fire saw the Mackintosh Library’s contents almost completely destroyed.
Firefighters saved most of the 105-year-old structure but 10 per cent of the building, including the library, was gutted. The fire brigade’s efforts contained the blaze to the west wing, saving items including valuable Mackintosh watercolours.
An official investigation confirmed that the blaze began when a projector ignited gases from expanding foam used in a student project. MAIL NEWSPAPERS CUSTOMER SERVICES: