Take the Mack off art school, says MSP

GLASGOW School of Art bosses are ‘unfit custodians’ of the historic Mackintosh building and should be stripped of its ownership, an MSP has said.

The building has been left a burned-out shell after two huge fires, the first in May 2014 and the second as it was being rebuilt in June 2018.

During a debate at Holyrood, Glasgow Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins said the GSA management had proved they were incapable of its care.

Mr Tomkins backed calls from culture committee convener Joan McAlpine for a public inquiry into the fires, and said if one was held then it ‘must consider whether the building should be taken out of the GSA’s hands and laid in some sort of public trust’. He added: ‘The management of the Glasgow School of Art have proved themselves to be an unfit custodian of this national treasure.

‘The GSA management have not only allowed this iconic building to burn down twice in the space of four years, but in the aftermath of the 2018 fire they treated their neighbours, in the Garnethill community, both residents and businesses up and down Sauchiehall Street, with disdain and contempt.’

Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said there were ‘harsh lessons’ to be learned for art school bosses but said it was for them to decide how the historic building should be used in the future.

He added: ‘The board has made clear its intention to rebuild the current site and that the Mack should return as a fully functioning art school.’

Pauline McNeill, Labour MSP for the Glasgow region, said that the impact of the second blaze could not be underestimated, adding: ‘The community were totally devastated, and still are devastated. People were not allowed to return home for four months.’

She said that while the fire exposed ‘poor relationships between the local community and the Glasgow School of Art’, these had been ‘poor for a long period of time’.

Miss McNeill added: ‘If you ask any of the residents if they think there has been an adequate response from authorities, they’ll tell you they felt abandoned by it.

‘We must learn lessons, not just about the cause of the fire, but about the conduct of authorities.’