MEDIA COVERAGE YEAR 2000-2013 THE PILOTI FILES 2000 - 2011

2013 MEDIA COVERAGE

2012 MEDIA COVERAGE

38 NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Friday August 3 2012 EVENING TIMES Town getting ready to rock Hotel deal for festival MUSIC fans will be hit- ting the town tomorrow for a rock festival. T h e a n n u a l T w o Rivers Music Festival in Paisley will be presented by Real XS, Renfrew- ‘close’ in bid shire Council and LnP Promotions. A full day of live music in County Square will be hosted by Tom Russell and The Crack from Real XS. O
The Eygptian Halls have been covered up while renovation work drags on The line-up includes to save halls Attica Rage, The Wee Band, Gallus Cooper, ensure the preservation of ish the building because One supporter said: “Here’s It is hoped the renovation and The Union. Developer to submit the A-listed building in renovation costs had risen to hoping the halls can inspire could act as a catalyst to Union Street, opposite £20million. a new generation of Glas- the rejuvenation of Union It runs from noon to new blueprint over 8pm. Entry is free and Central Station Thousands of people backed wegian architects to make Street, which has been no ticket is required. historic building The halls, completed in a Facebook campaign and pe- such excellent buildings.” in decline for a number of 1872, are recognised as the tition to save it from the axe The building has been years. Renfrewshire Council finest surviving example of lying empty for more than 30 A spokesman for the city leader Mark Macmillan By CAROLINE WILSON Thomson’s commercial years and is in poor council said a planning said: “This event show- A CAMPAIGN to save buildings. We strongly support condition. application was anticipated. cases a wide range of A source said there had A spokesman for Historic Union Street Properties established and up and one of Glasgow’s most any scheme that c o m i n g p e r f o r m e r s historic buildings from been a “significant” develop- conserves and re-uses Scotland said: “Egyptian and sister company Union ment in the plans. Halls is one of Glasgow’s Street Investments have from Renfrewshire and demolition may have A new planning applica- its unique place most important buildings. so far spent £5m on the further afield.” reached a major turning tion is expected to be submit- “It has been underused for project. point. ted to Glasgow City Council and a new post on the cam- many years and we strongly The city council previously SEND YOUR PICTURES T h e o w n e r s o f t h e later this month. paign page says: “The owners support any scheme that con- agreed a £1m grant and Egyptian Halls, built by Last year, the halls’ owner, are very close to agreeing the serves, re-uses and celebrates Historic Scotland a grant of OF GLASGOW TO: Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, Derek Souter, boss of Union hotel deal that would under- its unique place among the about £1.65m. yourpics@ are said to be close to finalis- Street Properties, said he pin the 100% preservation of city’s superb collection of caroline.wilson@ ing a hotel deal that could had no option but to demol- the Egyptian Halls.” historic architecture.” eveningtimes.co.uk eveningtimes.co.uk 2011 MEDIA COVERAGE

12 NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Friday June 24 2011 EVENING TIMES COST 50p CUP OF COFFEE WHOLE OF GLASGOW COST BAR OF JUST CHOCOLATE £1.70 45p NOBODY DELIVERS BETTER VALUE FOR GLASGOW Developer needs names to save halls Petition plan to gather support for city landmark

By RACHEL LOXTON THE owner of the historic Egyptian Halls is appealing to the public to help save the building – despite applying for permission to n The landmark Egyptian Halls, on Union Street, flatten it. have been lying empty since the early 1980s Derek Souter is hold- ing a petition day to- USP and USI have so torically significant morrow outside the 138- far spent £5 million on buildings”. year-old A-Listed the project and are will- Many believe the re- Alexander “Greek” ing to invest a further development of the Thomson building to £12m. Thomson masterpiece gather support for his The city council would aid the regenera- campaign. agreed a £1m grant and tion of Union Street. The halls, opposite Historic Scotland a Mr Souter, whose the side entrance of grant of around £1.65m original plan was to Central Station in but Mr Souter says this restore the Egyptian Union Street, have lain is not enough. Halls to their former vacant since around glory and create a 250- 1980 and are now bedroom hotel, added: covered in scaffolding. This project “We want some politi- Mr Souter, director of needs input cians to turn up [on Sat- Union Street Properties from everyone – it urday] and say they (USP) and Union Street needs collaboration want to save the build- Investments (USI), ‘ ing. We want people to claims he was forced to turn up and say yeah apply to Glasgow City A council spokesman rather than talk about Council to have the said: “We have been in it and blame the property demolished discussion with Mr developer. because of rising reno- Souter for a considera- “This project has vation costs. ble time. taken 31 years to solve. But despite this he “We remain very keen It needs input from ev- says he still wants to to see the building eryone, from the public save the building. brought back into use... and private sector. It He said: “It’s about it is unlikely that the needs collaboration.” raising awareness. We council would support The petition will be will dress the scaffold- any proposal for available to sign from ing boards with posters demolition.” 9am-12pm tomorrow to raise awareness of AHistoricScotland outside the Egyptian what we’re trying to do spokeswoman called Halls in Union Street. –savetheEgyptian the Egyptian Halls “one rachel.loxton@ Halls.” of Glasgow’s most his- heraldandtimes.co.uk

38 NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Tuesday May 31 2011 EVENING TIMES Autumn start for university MSP takes fight to save study course UNIVERSITY of the West of Scotland is to introduce its Executive MBA to Lanarkshire from this September. The EMBA, currently city landmark to Holyrood delivered at the univer- sity’s Management Cen- tre in Ayr, has been run- ning for over 10 years. Egyptian Halls Being introduced to the Hamilton Campus, it owner is asking is studied online with for more cash monthly workshops. An EMBA informa- tion session will be held By CAROLINE WILSON at the Hamilton Cam- pus, Caird Building on A CAMPAIGN to Tuesday June 7 at 6pm. s a v e a h i s t o r i c For more call 01292 Glasgow building 886400, e-mail manage from demolition has [email protected], or visit www.uws.ac.uk/ reached the Scottish management centre Parliament. Green MSP Patrick Harvie has lodged a motion calling on Glasgow City Council to protect the Grade A listed Egyptian Halls after the owner of the A l ex a n d e r “ G r e e k ” Thomson building applied for planning permission to demolish it. The motion calls on the council to refuse the application and back plans to transform the building into a hotel. DON’T MISS City council DINERTEC IN must redouble efforts to work THURSDAY’S with‘ the owners Owner Derek Souter, boss of Union Street n Derek Souter has applied for permission to demolish the Egyptian Halls in Properties, says he has Union Street, while Patrick Harvie, right, wants to see the building protected Town centre no option but to have the property knocked long, but that is no must redouble efforts to regarded as one of the down because renova- excuse for demolition. work with the owners to finest in Glasgow. car park for tion costs have risen to “Thomson has left a ensure the property is However it has been £20millon. legacy to Glasgow at not just kept standing lying empty for around The halls have been least as influential as and derelict but is 30 years and is in poor Renfrew described by Neil C h a r l e s R e n n i e instead fully and sensi- condition. Union Street Proper- grant of around £1.65m R E N F R E W S H I R E Baxter, secretary of the Mackintosh’s and we tively restored.” Mr Souter wanted to ties and sister company but Mr Souter says he Council is to begin the Royal Incorporation of owe t h e A l e x a n d e r Campaigns to protect restore it to its former Union Street Invest- needs the Scottish latest stage of its multi- Architects in Scotland, Thomson Society a debt the Egyptian Halls and glory and create a 250- ments have so far spent Government to provide million pound regenera- as “the finest surviving of gratitude for their other Thomson build- bedroom hotel along £5million on the project an extra £2.35m. tion programme of example of an tireless work to protect ings in Glasgow have with 200 jobs. He and Mr Souter says they Historic Scotland Renfrew town centre. Alexander Thomson this legacy. been led by the Alexan- believes it would help are willing to invest a insists it will not be able A new £250,000 car commercial building”. “Glasgow City der Thomson Society. spark the regeneration further £12m. to provide the project park will be built in the Mr Harvie said: “This Council must reject this The building, opposite of the area bringing in T h e c i t y c o u n c i l with any more cash. town centre on the site magnificent building application to demolish the side entrance to millions of pounds of agreed a £1m grant and of the former telephone has been empty for too the Egyptian Halls and Central Station, is investment. caroline.wilson@ Historic Scotland a eveningtime.co.uk exchange in Dunlop Street. It is planned to be in place to complement the reopening in No- ve m b e r o f R e n f r ew Mum Jennie banks £500 boost for son’s school Town Hall following its £ 5 . 2 m i l l i o n By EWAN FERGUS in Foxbar. Jennie, 33, is a volunteer grant as I have as fibre optics and bubble passionate about. They can refurbishment. very close links with St Paul’s tubes designed to stimulate apply for a grant of up to £500 A PAISLEY mum has helped banking advisor at the Contractor JCJ Ltd and was delighted that I the senses and create a feel- if they are involved with her son’s school by success- Clydesdale’s Hairst Street will carry out the first could help them continue the i n g o f c a l m n e s s a n d local community groups in fully appealing for a cash branch in Renfrew and her phase of work which in- great work they do for the tranquillity. their own time. grant. eight-year-old son Lee is a volves demolishing the children. The box is designed to This includes local chari- Clydesdale bank worker pupil at the school. old telephone exchange. “It’s reassuring to know provide stimulation from a ties or not-for-profit organi- Jennie O’Neill secured £500 St Paul’s is a mainstream that pupils at the school, variety of sights, sounds and sations such as schools, Do you have a story from her employer’s staff vol- school but is one of only two including my son Lee, will textures and help children to Brownies, Scouts or sports and picture you unteer grants programme. schools in the area to have its really benefit from the new relax and become more alert groups. want featured in Mum-of-three Jennie own communication disorder equipment.” and responsive. T h e m o n ey h e l p s t h e our Faces In The applied for a grant earlier unit for children with addi- The £500 from the bank Clydesdale Bank’s staff groups continue their work News column? this year to provide much tional support needs. Jennie will go towards pay- volunteer grants programme in the local community. Just e-mail the needed funds for new state- Jennie said: “I jumped at ing for a multi-sensory box funds charitable initiatives details and a picture of-the-art sensory equipment the chance when I found out ewan.fergus@ to: news@ containing equipment such that its employees are eveningtimes.co.uk at St Paul’s Primary School I could apply for a staff eveningtimes.co.uk

EVENING TIMES Tuesday April 26 2011 420,284 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 15 SPT steps in MEMORIES to help OAPs

2003 O
April 26, 2008: get on buses GLASGOW University student Laura Speirs, 21, was recovering after she suffered a stroke which Free service is doctors said could have a travel lifeline been brought on by laughing too hard. By VIVIENNE NICOLL ELDERLY people who ONTHIS feared they would be left stranded when their Glasgow bus DAY... service was scrapped have been thrown O Jonathan Findlay is NEWS delighted at the link-up 1962: The first American a lifeline. rocket landed on the Strathclyde Partner- SPT chairman Jonathan moon, but the Ranger IV ship for Transport has Findlay said: “I am failed to send back any stepped in to fund a new delighted we have been pictures due to a service in the Town- able to make sure those technical fault. head/Drygate area after members of the local 1986: The world’s worst a commercial operator community who are not nuclear accident pulling out. always able to access happened when there T h e n e w s e r v i c e, alternative mainstream was an explosion at the which started today, transport can still lead Chernobyl power plant in will be provided by local independent lives. the Soviet Union. community transport “This link-up will 1999: TV presenter Jill g r o u p N o r t h A r e a provide an immediate Dando, below, was shot Transport Association. O Stewart Campbell from Milngavie, left, with Isabel Brims, from Callander, and her bother Alastair dead on the doorstep of SPT came to the res- This link-up take pictures of the statue of Lobey Dosser and his horse El Fideldo in Woodlands Road in 2003 her London home. cue after concerns that will provide elderly people were find- ing it difficult to access an immediate alternative buses. solution to problem The route will allow ‘ access to local shops solution to a local trans- and post offices and link port problem and SPT 1967 Kennedy street, St Mun- will strive to put in go Avenue, Glasgow place a longer term bus Royal infirmary, Dry- service for the area.” gate, Duke Street, High G l a s g o w c o u n c i l Street, Glasgow Cross, leader Gordon Matheson Trongate, Glassford said: “I am delighted Street, George Square, this service is helping SPORT Killermont Street and to improve the access 1969: Celtic completed Cowcaddens Road. residents have to the the treble by beating Low floor minibuses city centre and other Rangers 4-0 in the are being provided free . parts of Glasgow. It is Scottish Cup Final. They will run 9.30am- vital communities stay 1991: Footballer Diego 2.30pm on weekdays . connected.” Maradona, below, was suspended from the game after being arrested in Argentina for posses- sion and distribution of Facebook "ght to cocaine. save historic halls By CAROLINE WILSON Properties and sister company Union Street THOUSANDS of people Investments have so far have backed an online spent £5 million on the campaign to save one of project and Mr Souter Glasgow’s architectural says they are willing to treasures. invest a further £12m. The 138- year- o l d , T h e c i t y c o u n c i l SHOWBIZ A-listed Egyptian Halls agreed a £1m grant and Tide of people see great ship o! 1928: Madame Tussaud’s in Union Street is at Historic Scotland a waxwork exhibition risk of demolition if the grant of around £1.65m THE big day is edging closer into the launch site. In the opened in London. owners fail to secure but Mr Souter says he SEND US YOUR PICTURES funding to restore it. as Prince William and Kate Want to share your memories? foreground, a mounted 1977: New York’s famed needs the Scottish Gov- Middleton get set to tie the Send a picture with a short note policemen salutes the royal Studio 54 disco opened. More than 2000 people ernment to provide an have joined a Facebook knot on Friday. and phone number and we’ll visitors. 1982: Rod Stewart was extra £2.35m to allow campaign to save the The world will be watching publish the best. Write to: On the right, an old shop mugged at gunpoint work to start. A l ex a n d e r “ G r e e k ” – with all eyes on Kate’s Letters, Evening Times, 200 front can be seen complete while in Los Angeles and But Historic Scotland T h o m s o n d e s i g n e d wedding gown as she walks Renfield St, Glasgow G2 3QB or with its ‘Evening Times’ robbed of his $50,000 insists it cannot provide building. down the aisle at Westminster e-mail [email protected] signage. Porsche. more cash and a plan- Owner Derek Souter Abbey. The QE2’s maiden voyage, 1986: Actor Arnold ning application has wants to restore it to its Back in September 1967, a shipyard on the day the QE2 from Southampton to New Schwarzenegger married now been lodged to de- former glory by creating royal visit led to huge crowds was launched. York, began on May 2, 1969, TV journalist Maria molish the building. a 250 bedroom hotel. in Clydebank as 100,000 people Spectators gathered as the taking four days, 16 hours and Shriver. caroline.wilson@ besieged John Brown’s royal party made their way 35 minutes. H i s U n i o n S t r e e t eveningtimes.co.uk EVENING TIMES Tuesday February 8 2011 420,284 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 9 By-election Owner to outline stark choices facing Greek Thomson Halls to be held for Paisley seat By EWAN FERGUS A BY-ELECTION will be held in Renfrewshire Council’s Paisley South Last ditch Ward on March 17 follow- ing the death of Council- lor Jim Mitchell. The newly-elected councillor will join three other councillors in the multi-member ward. talks to Polling will take place from 7am to 10pm at seven polling stations for the electorate of approximately 14,000 people. ’ Candidates must be nominated by 4pm on save city s February 23 and postal votes must be applied for by 5pm on March 2. Anyone wishing a postal vote should con- tact the Electoral Regis- ‘ ’ tration Officer on 0141 Egyptian 842 5922. Last week hundreds of mourners attended a service at Paisley Town Hall to pay their ■ Derek Souter in respects to councillor derelict Egyptian Mitchell, who died on Halls, exterior below, January21attheageof treasure and our story from 68. December last year ’ By VIVIENNE NICOLL realises the potential Mongolians danger of this building THE future of a being lost. visit to build historic city centre “I want them to come building facing along and listen to what demolition will be is being said about the Scots links discussed at a pub- project rather than try to ignore it and hope MONGOLIA is to send lic meeting later it is left to someone else its first official delega- this month. to sort out. tion to Scotland to forge trade links and cement In December, the “Everyone talks a political relations. Evening Times revealed good game about pre- the future looked bleak serving Greek Thomson Two of the central for the 138-year-old, A- buildings but very few Asian nation’s leading Listed Egyptian Halls people put up the mon- diplomats will fly from in Union Street, which ey that is required.” the London embassy to meet politicians at are lying derelict. The Egyptian Halls Holyrood and get a taste The building, oppo- have lain partly derelict of Scottish culture. site the side entrance to for 30 years and are cur- Central Station, was de- rently hidden behind a The trip was suggest- signed by Alexander giant hoarding. ed by David Scott, 37, an expedition organiser “Greek” Thomson and Union Street Invest- Government to provide tions to attend a public “Every stakeholder, Mr Souter said the from Newton Mearns, is regarded as one of the ments have so far spent an extra £2.35million to meeting in the Light- from Glasgow City building suffered badly near Glasgow, who has finest in Glasgow. £5million on the project allow work to start. house on February 23 to Council, Historic Scot- in the severe weather worked with Mongolia Owner Derek Souter, and Mr Souter says they But Historic Scotland discuss the future of land, the Scottish Gov- earlier this winter. for more than a decade. director of Union Street are willing to invest a insists it will not be able the building. ernment, the Labour Members of the pub- He said: “There are Properties, wants to re- further £12m. to provide the project Mr Souter said: Party, Glasgow Cham- lic who want to attend similarities between the store it to its former The city council with any more cash. “There are two options ber of Commerce and the meeting should con- countries – both have glory and create a 250 agreed a £1m grant and Mr Souter has now in- – one is to refurbish and the Greek Thomson tact Mr Souter by email- outstanding natural bedroom hotel along Historic Scotland a vited representatives of regenerate the Egyp- Society have been ing him on derek@ beauty, a large rural with 200 jobs. grant of around £1.65m the Scottish Govern- tian Halls and the other invited. djscm.com Union Street Proper- Mr Souter said he ment and a wide range is to demolish it and “I have called the population as well as vivienne.nicoll@ friendly traditions.” ties and sister company needs the Scottish of interested organisa- rebuild. meeting so everyone eveningtimes.co.uk £50M loan initiative will help town centres By GERRY BRAIDEN in Dumbarton by borrowing at efficient energy consumption Jim McAloon, head of regen- competitive rates against the schemes, and “shopjackets” eration and economic develop- PLANS to protect high streets anticipated rental income. which would see upmarket ment at the council, said: “Asa from the economic downturn Around £13m of the total business facades placed over council we need to be on the will be boosted by a council would be spent on the council’s empty shops to create the front foot to do whatever we borrowing almost £50million property portfolio over the impression that they are still can to support our businesses and initiatives such as paint- next 25 years, with £35m in- occupied and thriving. and town centres.” ing “shopjackets” on vacant vested in projects which can A shop unit never occupied The council said roll-out of retail sites. demonstrate they would save in Dumbarton’s High Street the £13m investment in its West Dunbartonshire Coun- the authority money in the has become a bustling butch- property would also lead to cil is to pour cash into redevel- long-term. ers, while a former photo shop fewer vacant sites and put it in oping Alexandria Shopping So-called spend-to-save is now home to a ‘deli’. a position to earn higher rental Centre, the Clyde Shopping schemes can include anything The shopjacket project is to incomes. Centre and the Artizan Centre from new schools to more cost around £20,000. [email protected] 2010 MEDIA COVERAGE

EVENING TIMES Tuesday February 9 2010 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 11 EVERY DAY THIS WEEK DON’T MISS SATURDAY’S

WORTH £1000 WIN £1000 OF IKEA VOUCHERS A VALENTINE’S

TO BE WON TREAT FOR TWO TERMS AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY CONDITIONS APPLY

n Talks on the Egyptian Halls’ future are advanced Deal close for A-listed landmark Egyptian Halls to get developer

By GRAEME MURRAY THE owner of Alex- ander “Greek” Thom- son’s Egyptian Halls is in talks with four interested parties who could secure the n Derek Souter is future of the A-listed optimistic the halls’ landmark in weeks. future will be secure The identities of those of Union Street Proper- involved are being kept ties, said: “Everybody secret until a preferred wants to see the Egyptian developer is confirmed, Halls saved and it’s now but the firms involved are getting close to that.” believed to be “serious Dundee-based USP has and well-financed”. been involved with the The property’s owner halls for 11 years and has Union Street Properties invested £5.5million in says a winning firm could the building. be appointed in four to But because of legal six weeks allowing the issues over ownership, project to end 30 years of the company only took stalemate. full possession of the 136- Once a developer is year-old property last chosen, the historic halls year and began market- will be transformed into ing the halls to potential a 136-150-room hotel with developers. restaurant, bar and retail Mr Souter added: “All provision. parties know the dead- The firm also wants to lines and we are benefit- create a Mackintosh- ing from support from Thomson Mews linking Glasgow City Council, C h a r l e s R e n n i e Historic Scotland and our Mackintosh’s Lighthouse funders Dunfermline building with Thomson’s Building Society.” Egyptian Halls. graeme.murray@ Derek Souter, director eveningtimes.co.uk N OBO DY KN OWS G L AS G OW B E TT ER

45p Wednesday June 9 2010

PICTURE SPECIAL PART 2

BREAKING NEWS Cops hunt EXCLUSIVE Hotel plan for derelict site gunman as shots fired A GUNMAN is on the run after a man was shot in a house in North Lanarkshire. Police descended on Inverkip Drive, Shotts, M after neighbours reported £18 TO hearing gunfire around 7.30am today. The victim, who was apparently shot at close range, was rushed to Wishaw Hospital. He is said to be in his early 30s. It is understood four shots were heard and one nearby resident said a man was seen running SAVE from a house. Police have cordoned off the area. HOSPICE CITY Campaign LENNON hits £15.5m AN Evening Times backed LINES UP campaign for a new Glasgow hospice has hit the £15.5million mark. By VIVIENNE NICOLL Staff and patients CENTRE BELLAMY DERELICT Alexander Greek celebrated the Big Build Thomson building in Glasgow milestone, just £600,000 city centre is to be trans- short of the target. A formed into a 136-bedroom hotel. The new Marie Curie RETURN The owners of the A-listed Egyptian Hospice was officially Halls have signed an £18million deal that opened at Stobhill will end decades of stalemate and secure Hospital five months ago. SEE BACK PAGE the future of the 139-year-old halls. n PAGES 6-7 GEM full story – pages 4, 5 PAGE 10 NEWS THE HERALD THURSDAY 10.06.2010 Pope visit to Glasgow is finalised Cancellation fears allayed as plans for Mass in Bellahouston Park go ahead

GERRY BRAIDEN and THAT HAS A GREAT RESONANCE FOR DAVID ROSS 3COTTISH #ATHOLICS MANY OF WHOM REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL 4(% 0OPElS OPEN AIR -ASS IN DAY IN  WHEN 0OPE *OHN 'LASGOWlS "ELLAHOUSTON 0ARK 0AUL )) SAID -ASS THEREn HAS FINALLY BEEN OFFICIALLY CON 4HE BISHOPS SAID THEY FIRMED ALLAYING FEARS THE ENTIRE EXPECTED MORE THAN HALF OF THE "RITISH VISIT WAS IN JEOPARDY DUE   #ATHOLICS WHO ATTEND TO SPIRALLING COSTS MOST OF WHICH 3UNDAY SERVICES ACROSS 3COTLAND WILL BE PICKED UP BY THE 5+lS TO ATTEND "ELLAHOUSTON WITH THE #ATHOLIC POPULATION  PARISHES NORTH OF THE "ORDER 4HE VENUE FOR THE #ATHOLIC RECEIVING A PRO RATA ALLOCATION CEREMONY IN 3COTLAND WAS FOR OF PLACES BASED ON THEIR -ASS MALLY ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY AFTER ATTENDANCE FIGURES A MEETING BETWEEN 'LASGOW #ITY 4HOUSANDS MORE ARE EXPECTED #OUNCIL AND THE "ISHOPSl TO LINE THE ROUTE OF THE 0OPElS #ONFERENCE OF 3COTLAND MOTORCADE THROUGH %DINBURGH (OWEVER THE &REE 0RESBYTER EARLIER IN THE DAY ! 3T .INIANlS IAN #HURCH OF 3COTLAND SAID IT $AY 0AGEANT IN %DINBURGH IS WAS OFFENSIVE THAT THE 5+ 'OV ALSO PLANNED PLANNING AHEAD: Derek Soutar of owners USP said the development was great news for Glasgow as it would mean 80 jobs when the hotel was up and running. Picture: Lenny Warren ERNMENT WAS HOSTING THE 0OPE "ENEDICT IS TO BEATIFY %NG AS A HEAD OF STATE LANDlS MOST FAMOUS CONVERT TO 0RIME -INISTER $AVID #ATHOLICISM #ARDINAL .EWMAN #AMERON HAS DRAFTED IN FORMER WHO FOUNDED THE FIRST %NGLISH Greek is the word: £18m plan to transform 4ORY GRANDEE ,ORD 0ATTEN TO /RATORY IN "IRMINGHAM IN  OVERSEE "ENEDICTlS 5+VISIT ,ORD 4HERE HAS BEEN SPECULATION THE 0ATTEN A CABINET MEMBER IN THE PLANNED BEATIFICATION CEREMONY S AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF AN OPEN AIR -ASS BEFORE   Thomson’s derelict masterpiece into hotel (ONG +ONG IS TO BE THE 0RIME PILGRIMS AT #OVENTRY AIRPORT -INISTERlS PERSONAL REPRESENTA COULD BE REPLACED BY A SMALLER TIVE FOR THE VISIT IN 3EPTEMBER EVENT ALTHOUGH THE #HURCH HAS VIVIENNE NICOLL and m4HE INITIAL APPRAISAL AND AS A #ATHOLIC AND EXPERI INSISTED THE VISIT TO #OVENTRY WILL GRAEME MURRAY SUGGESTS THE DEVELOPMENT ENCED DIPLOMAT IT WILL BE HIS TASK GO AHEAD WILL COST APPROXIMATELY TO GET THE FIRST EVER PAPAL STATE ! PRAYER VIGIL WAS TO TAKE PLACE /.% OF 'LASGOWlS {M BUT WILL SHOW A LOSS VISIT TO "RITAIN BACK ON TRACK AFTER IN ,ONDONlS (YDE 0ARK BUT ARCHITECTURAL GEMS IS TO OF {M BASED ON THE A SERIES OF DIFFICULTIES 2OYAL 0ARKS SAID NO SUCH EVENT BECOME A  BEDROOM ESTIMATED RETURNS 4HERE IS 4HE 0OPE WILL ARRIVE IN %DIN HAS BEEN BOOKED HOTEL IN AN { MILLION THEREFORE NO PROSPECT OF BURGH ON 3EPTEMBER  THE FEAST 4HE 0OPElS 5+ VISIT HAS UPSET REDEVELOPMENT PROCEEDING WITHOUT OF 3T .INIAN p THE SAINT WHO THE &REE 0RESBYTERIAN #HURCH OF &OR  YEARS THE %GYP EXTERNAL FUNDING SUPPORTn BROUGHT #HRISTIANITY TO 3COTLAND 3COTLAND WHO SAID m7E DENY TIAN (ALLS IN 5NION 3TREET 530 IS IN THE PROCESS OF p AND WILL MEET THE 1UEEN AT THAT HE IS THE HEAD OF THE #HRIS HAVE LAIN MOSTLY EMPTY RAISING {M AND HAS ASKED (OLYROOD (OUSE BEFORE MAKING TIAN CHURCH OR THAT HE HAS ANY AND PARTLY DERELICT "UT ALL THE CITY COUNCIL TO PROVIDE HIS WAY TO 'LASGOW CIVIL POWERWHICH SHOULD RECEIVE THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE THE REMAINING {M ! STATEMENT FROM 3COTLANDlS RECOGNITION BY ANY STATE PARTIC WITH PLANS TO CONVERT THE 3TEVE )NCH THE COUNCILlS #ATHOLIC BISHOPS SAID m4HE ULARLY ONE WHICH HAS RENOUNCED ! LISTED !LEXANDER m'REEKn EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF #ATHOLIC #HURCH WELCOMES THE HIS PRETENDED JURISDICTION 4HOMSON DESIGNED FORMER DEVELOPMENT AND REGEN CONFIRMATION BY 'LASGOW #ITY m7E FIND IT OFFENSIVE THAT THIS WAREHOUSE SLEEPING GIANT: The Egyptian Halls in Glasgow’s Union ERATION SAID m4HE COUNCIL #OUNCIL THAT "ELLAHOUSTON 0ARK VISIT WILL START IN %DINBURGH 5NION 3TREET 0ROPERTIES Street is considered by many to be the finest building of HAS BEEN ANXIOUS TO SEE WILL BE AVAILABLE AND SUITABLE FOR WHERE  YEARS AGO UNDER THE 530 OWNS THE HISTORIC architect Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson (left). THIS IMPORTANT ! LISTED THE VISIT OF 0OPE "ENEDICT BRAVE AND 'ODLY LEADERSHIP OF BUILDING WHICH IS NOW Picture: Nick Ponty BUILDING RESTORED AND m4HE PARK PROVIDES A WONDER *OHN +NOXAND OUR OTHER REFORM REGARDED AS BEING AT RETURNED TO PRODUCTIVE USE FUL VENUE FOR WHAT WILL BE A ERS THE JURISDICTION OF THE 0OPE RISK 4HE FIRM HAS AGREED FOR MANY YEARS TREMENDOUS EVENT )T IS A PLACE WAS FOREVER ABOLISHEDn THAT $ERBYSHIRE BASED BEHIND IT ADDING A ROOFTOP SHOPS AT BASEMENT AND m7E HOPE OUR PROPOSED ,ONGROSE "UCCLEUCH EXTENSION OR FLATTENING THE GROUND FLOOR LEVELS AND A FINANCIAL SUPPORT WILL WILL MANAGE THE BUILDING BUILDING AND REDEVELOPING HOTEL ON THE FIRST TO FOURTH BOLSTER THE REGENERATION OF WITH THE HOTEL FRANCHISE THE SITE FLOORS WITH THE ADDITION OF 5NION 3TREETn BEING TAKEN OVER BY THE ! REPORT TO COUNCILLORS A ROOFTOP EXTENSION 'ARIN $AVIES OF !CCOR GROUP SAYS m'IVEN THE STATUS OF 4HE PART OF THE HOTEL IN ,ONGROSE "UCCLEUCH SAID $EREK 3OUTER OF 530 THE BUILDING AND ITS THE EXISTING BUILDING WOULD m7E ASSESS MANY PROJECT SAID m4HIS IS FANTASTIC NEWS IMPORTANCE TO THE HERITAGE BE THREE STAR WITH THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THIS IS FOR 'LASGOW AND 5NION OF 'LASGOW 530 HAS BEEN EXTENSION FOUR STAR ONE WHICH IS NEAR THE TOP 3TREET !S WELL AS CREATING ADVISED DEMOLITION 4HE REPORT ADDS OF THE LIST WE WANT TO MORE THAN  CONSTRUCTION REDEVELOPMENT WOULD NOT m(ISTORIC 3COTLAND APPEARS BECOME INVOLVED WITHn AND  FULL AND PART TIME BE SUPPORTED BY (ISTORIC TO ACCEPT COMPROMISE IS .EIL "AXTER SECRETARY OF JOBS WHEN TRADING IT WILL 3COTLAND OR THE COUNCILn NECESSARY AND THAT WITHOUT THE 2OYAL )NCORPORATION OF PRESERVE 3COTLANDlS "UT STUDIES SHOW NO SOME RADICAL DESIGN !RCHITECTS IN 3COTLAND SAID ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGEn OTHER OPTIONS ARE FINAN CHANGES TO THE BUILDING NO m4HIS IS A BUILDING OF THE 4HE %GYPTIAN (ALLS ARE CIALLY VIABLE 4HE OPTION REFURBISHMENT WILL TAKE FIRST IMPORTANCE NOT SIMPLY CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THAT SHOWS THE SMALLEST PLACE AND THE DETERIORATION IN 'LASGOW OR 3COTLAND BUT SAVE £50 ARCHITECT 4HOMSONlS FINEST FINANCIAL LOSS INVOLVES WILL CONTINUE IN %UROPEAN TERMSn BUILDING /VER THE PAST THREE DECADES VARIOUS Architect’s legacy PLANS TO REFURBISH THE HALLS HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED BY THE FACT IT HAD A LARGE NUMBER L The A-listed St Vincent Now owned by the National condition and opened to the OF INDIVIDUAL OWNERS Street Church (right) was Trust for Scotland, the public. 4HE CITY COUNCIL EVENTU designed by Greek Thomson Victorian villa has been L Caledonia Road Church in ALLY STEPPED IN ON BEHALF OF in 1859 for the former United restored to its original Gorbals was Thomson’s first MAJORITY OWNER 530 AND Presbyterian Church of church in Glasgow and was BEGAN PREPARING COMPUL Scotland. It is owned by built in 1857. It was severely SORY PURCHASE ORDERS FOR Glasgow City Council and damaged by fire in 1965. A YEAR THE REST OF THE BUILDING currently used !S A RESULT ALL THE OTHER by a congregation of the Free L An elegant row of two- OWNERS AGREED TO SELL UP Church of Scotland. storey terraced townhouses AND THE COMPANY NOW in Millbrae Crescent, OWNS THE ENTIRE BUILDING L Holmwood House on the Langside, Glasgow, are 530 (ISTORIC 3COTLAND south side of Glasgow is among Thomson’s other AND THE COUNCIL LOOKED AT considered Thomson’s designs and also use OPTIONS THAT INCLUDED finest and most original Egyptian-style columns and KEEPING THE FACADE AND residential property. ornamentation. DEMOLISHING EVERYTHING Sarah Payne killer’s MSPs back national jail term is reduced children’s panel body 4(% KILLER OF SCHOOLGIRL TENCE ON7HITING p WHO WAS BRIAN CURRIE ING SYSTEM 7HILE THE CUR 3ARAH 0AYNE HAD HIS  YEAR NOT IN COURT p REMAINED ONE POLITICAL EDITOR RENT SYSTEM HAS INDIVIDUAL MINIMUM JAIL TERM CUT BY  OF IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE AND LOCAL AUTHORITY PANELS THE YEARS BY THE (IGH #OURT IN HEWOULD BE DETAINEDmUNLESS ! 0,!. TO REPLACE LOCAL "ILL PROPOSES A NATIONAL ,ONDON YESTERDAY AND UNTIL THE PAROLE BOARD IS CHILDRENlS PANELS WITH A BODY CALLED #HILDRENlS 0AEDOPHILE 2OY 7HITING SATISFIED HE NO LONGER PRES SINGLE NATIONAL BODY HAS (EARINGS 3COTLAND THOUGH  WAS JAILED FOR LIFE IN  ENTS A RISK TO THE PUBLICn BEEN BACKED BY A (OLYROOD HEARINGS WOULD STILL TAKE FOR THE KIDNAP AND MURDER 4HE JUDGE ADDED m) INVITE COMMITTEE PLACE IN COMMUNITIES OF EIGHT YEAR OLD 3ARAH EVERYONE PRESENT IN COURT TO (OWEVER -30S EXPRESSED #OMMITTEE CONVENER FROM 7EST 3USSEX PAUSE AND REMEMBER 3ARAH SEVERAL CONCERNS INCLUDING +AREN 7HITEFIELD SAID m7E )N  THE THEN HOME 0AYNE WHO WOULD NOW BE THE PROBLEM OF CHILDREN AGREED TO SUPPORT THE GEN SECRETARY $AVID "LUNKETT  IF SHE HAD NOT BEEN MUR CARRYING A CRIMINAL RECORD ERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE "ILL ORDERED HIM TO SERVE AT LEAST DERED AND REFLECT THE GRAVE INTO ADULT LIFE ALTHOUGH THERE WERE CON Only £5.30 per week and that’s not all, you TO TAKE UP THIS  YEARS BEFORE BECOMING LOSS HER DEATH HAS CAUSED TO )N THEIR REPORT INTO THE CERNS THAT MUCH WOULD ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE HER FAMILY AND OTHERS WHO #HILDRENlS (EARINGS 3COT DEPEND ON THE VIEWS OF can now spread the cost with our continuous EXCELLENT OFFER "UT YESTERDAY HIGH COURT LOVED HERn LAND "ILL MEMBERS OF THE WHOEVER IS APPOINTED AS THE JUDGE -R*USTICE 3IMON SAID 3ARAHlS MOTHER 3ARA %DUCATION ,IFELONG ,EARN NATIONAL CONVENER Direct Debit payment method or you can pay OR FOR MORE THE APPROPRIATE MINIMUM 0AYNE WHO WAS IN THE ING AND #ULTURE #OMMITTEE m/UR MAIN CONCERN IS TO TERM WAS  YEARS AND THAT PACKED COURTROOM LINKED AGREED THE SYSTEM HAD TO BE ENSURE THE STRENGTHS OF THE monthly, quarterly, and annually, whatever INFORMATION CALL FROM THAT MUST BE DEDUCTED HANDS WITH A MAN SITTING MODERNISED CHILDRENlS HEARING SYSTEM THE TIME SPENT ON REMAND NEXT TO HER BUT WAS OTHER 4HE NEW LEGISLATION IS ARE BOLSTERED AND DECISIONS suits you best. Simply hand the vouchers to US ON 0141 302 7300 CALCULATED TO BE  DAYS WISE IMPASSIVE AS THE JUDGE AIMED AT STRENGTHENING THE CONTINUE TO BE MADE IN THE (E STRESSED THAT THE SEN MADE HIS COMMENTS  YEAR OLD CHILDRENlS HEAR BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDn your newsagent instead of money. MON-FRI 9am - 5pm ALISON ROWAT REVIEWS THE LATEST MOVIE RELEASES – PAGE 15  NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Wednesday June 9 2010 EVENING TIMES FACES £18m plan for derelict ‘Greek’ Thomson building IN THE NEWS New crown for mag Queen Cole Cheryl Cole’s status as the nation’s celebrity queen was cemented after being crowned Woman of the Year. The TV and singing star, 26, scooped the Glamour magazine award at a glitzy ceremony in London last night. It’s been a busy year for Cole, but both her X Factor role and her solo album were overshadowed by her split from husband Ashley. Cowell tribute to Bethany, 5 Britain’s Got a-LISTED Talent judge Simon Cowell has paid tribute to a “very special little girl” who died of a brain tumour days after fulfilling her “big ambition” to sing for him. Bethany Fenton, 5, from Gloucestershire, performed hALLS TO Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for him on Saturday. She died yesterday with her family at her side. Birthday blues for Kym’s beau BE Hbeing at risk.OTEL The firm has all the other owners agreed EXCLUSIVE agreed that Derbyshire- to sell up and Union Street CorRIE star By VIVIENNE NICOLL Kym Marsh based Longrose Buccleuch Properties now owns the has put her and GRAEME MURRAY will manage the building entire building. wedding to N £18 MILLION with the hotel franchise The company, Historic former being taken over by the Scotland and the council plan will see the Accor group. It already looked at options for the Hollyoaks transformation of actor Jamie operates 850 hotels in nearly Halls including keeping the Lomas on hold due to work one of Glasgow’s 100 countries. facade and demolishing commitments. architectural Derek Souter of Union everything behind it, adding The former Hear’Say gems into a 136- Street Investments said: a rooftop extension, or singer said: “The wedding bedroomA hotel. “This is fantastic news for flattening the building and was to take place during the For 30 years the Egyptian Glasgow and Union Street redeveloping the site. same week as Coronation Halls in Union Street have and would also be a signifi- Street’s 50th birthday, lain mostly empty and partly cant boost for Glasgow’s which would have meant I’d derelict. construction industry. have been very busy.” But all that is about to “As well as creating more The council is anxious change with plans to convert than 60 construction and 80 to see this Grade A building the A-listed Alexander full and part-time jobs when returned to productive use Fortuna waltzes ‘Greek’ Thomson designed trading, it will preserve The part of the hotel in the without external funding former warehouse into a Scotland’s architectural A report to councillors, existing building would be support.” swish hotel. heritage.” says: “Given the status of the three star with the new Union Street Properties is off dance show Cash will come from the The Egyptian Halls are building and its importance extension four star. in the process of raising Better Glasgow Fund which considered by many to be to the heritage of Glasgow, The report adds: “Historic £17m and has asked the US star Brian was set up two years ago to architect Alexander ‘Greek’ city council to provide the Fortuna is to USP has been advised Scotland appears to accept fund regeneration and the Thomson’s finest building. demolition/redevelopment compromise is necessary other £1m. quit the BBC’s protection of historic Over the past 30 years, Steve Inch, the council’s Strictly Come would not be supported by and that without some buildings. It is hoped the various plans to refurbish the council or Historic radical design changes to executive director of Dancing show hotel will act as a spring- the Halls have been frus- development and regenera- after changes Scotland.” the building no refurbish- board for the wider regen- trated by the fact it had a But studies show no other ment will take place and the tion, said: “The council has to the format. eration of Union Street. large number of individual deterioration will continue. been anxious to see this The BBC has recruited options are financially On Friday, Glasgow owners. viable. The option which “The initial development important Grade A listed three new male dancers to councillors will be asked to The city council eventu- building restored and the show this year, with shows the smallest financial appraisal suggests the contribute £1m towards the ally stepped in on behalf of loss involves shops at development will cost returned to productive use Fortuna offered a role in a cost of the scheme from the majority owner Union Street for many years. new professional group, basement and ground floor approximately £18m but will Better Glasgow Fund. Properties and began levels and a hotel on the first show a loss of £5m based on “We hope our proposed which would have seen him preparing compulsory financial support will removed from the mentoring Union Street Investments to fourth floors with the the estimated returns. own the historic building purchase orders for the rest addition of a rooftop “There is therefore no bolster the regeneration of role which saw him of the building. As a result Union Street.” partnered with celebrities. which is now regarded as extension. prospect of proceeding EVENING TIMES Wednesday June 9 2010 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE  aims to put new heart into city centre site Probe told of pressure on inspections But care home had more than 20 visits

A BUILDING control expert told the inquiry into the deaths of 14 OAPs at a care home the process of inspect- n The plan would create a hotel from the building ing buildings had ROSEPARK which has lain derelict for almost 30 years become “devalued” by pressure to rush INQUIRY through applications. But Thomas Sorbie processing applications. s a i d R o s e p a r k Ca r e “There just isn’t the Home in Uddingston same emphasis on inspec- – wh e r e t h e d e a t h s tion as there was before,” occurred in 2004 – had he said. received more than 20 Mr Sorbie said the site inspections, an unu- inspections at Rosepark sually high number. appeared mainly to have Mr Sorbie had told been early in the con- a Fatal Accident Inquiry struction process, mean- i n M o t h e r w e l l t h a t i n g m o st t o o k p l a c e council league tables before ventilation and p u t p r e s s u r e o n other fire-stopping inspectors. measures would have He said site visits by been in place. inspectors had reduced He had earlier told the dramatically over the inquiry that a site inspec- years from the early tor appeared to have 1990s and this was a missed problems with major problem by the the building’s ventilation start of this century. syst e m , su c h a s t h e One chief executive he absence of any fire damp- knew had quipped that ers, the automatic clos- “warrants (for new build- ing systems that could ings) mean jobs”, the have blocked the passage inquiry was told, and o f h e a t a n d s m o k e t h a t w i t h l i m i t e d through the premises. resources inspectors T h e i n q u i r y , i n w e r e p u s h e d i n t o Motherwell, continues. Autism link to babies born a week early BABIES born a week The results “suggest early are more prone to deliveries should ideally develop a series of learn- wait until 40 weeks of ing difficulties such as gestation because even a autism, and deafness. baby born at 39 weeks... A study of more than has an increased risk of 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 c h i l d r e n by special educational needs researchers at Glasgow compared with a baby University showed that born a week later”. those born at 39 weeks Around a third of UK The council is likely to were more likely to need births take place at 37 to draw up a legal agreement help at school compared 39 weeks as mothers allowing it to claw back cash with babies who spent 40 choose earlier deliveries if the building costs are not weeks in the womb. for non-medical reasons. as high as expected or if it is sold on for above its estimated cost. Garin Davies of Longrose I WILL BUY Buccleuch said: “We assess I WILL BUY many project opportunities YOUR PROPERTY and this is one which is near the top of the list we want to YOUR become involved with.” Neil Baxter, secretary of n the Royal Incorporation of Derek Souter PROPERTY says the project Architects in Scotland, said: Phone Janice at “This is a building of the first will create more importance, not simply in than 60 Glasgow or Scotland but in construction Property Freedom European terms.” jobs and 80 jobs once completed 0141 404 7844  /0#0%:
,/084
(-"4(08
#&55&3 8FEOFTEBZ
+VOF

 &7&/*/(
5*.&4

&45"#-*4)&%
 Will you be cheering England … or is it a case of anybody but?

/0#0%:
,/084 (-"4(08
#&55&3 */
063
01*/*0/

City’s ‘Greek’ %"7*%
:"5&4

SPBE
46;"//&
.$-&"/

.":0
.*$)*&

TFDSFUBSZ
("33:
)&/%&340/

TXFFQFS
%SVNDIBQFM
TUVEFOU
#JTIPQCSJHHT
8FTU
&OE
i&OHMBOE
:PV
IBWF
UP
TBMFT
BTTJTUBOU
4PVUITJEF
i"SHFOUJOB
UIFZWF
HPU
B
HSFBU
i4QBJO
*
MPWF
UIF
DPVOUSZ
*
EPOU
CBDL
ZPVS
PXO
y
XIZ
TIPVMEOU
i"OZPOF
CVU
&OHMBOE
(PU
UP
LFFQ
gem must be UFBN
PG
QMBZFST
*
QVU
B
XFF
CFU
PO
TFF
UIF
QPJOU
JO
UIF
CJUUFSOFTT
XF
*N
TVSF
EFFQ
EPXO
UIFZE
UIF
PME
SJWBMSZ
VQw rescued UIFN
XJOOJOH
BT
XFMMw QFPQMF
IBWF
GPS
&OHMBOEw
TVQQPSU
VTw
6/*0/
453&&5

1  OR more than thirty years the Fderelict Egyptian Halls has been an eyesore that should be a treasure. The £18m hotel plan is the closest anyone has come to 8IP
XJMM

securing the future of this ‘Greek’ Thomson masterpiece and put it back into good use. There are still hurdles to overcome, especially financial, but this development looks to be a suitable solution to long standing ZPV
CBDL

problem. The city council has done well to finally unite the building under one ownership, to allow develop- ment to progress A refurbished Egyptian Halls and top hotel would breathe life UP
MJGU
UIF
into what has become a neglected corner of the city centre.

*/
5)&*3
01*/*0/ 'SPN
&VSPQF
%POU
8PSME
$VQ SVMF
PVU
UIF
*WPSZ
$PBTU
PS
+BQBO






































0/-:
"/%
&9$64&
o
1 #Z
"/%3&8
%06(-"4 always be a rivalry )&
'PPUCBMM
8PSME
between Scotland and The $VQ
JT
BMNPTU
VQPO
Auld Enemy. Scotland v England is Chips are down VT
BOE
GPS
4DPUUJTI
the oldest international GBOT
UIBU
USPVCMF football fixture in the for fryer Luigi TPNF
RVFTUJPO
IBT
world, having first being TVSGBDFE
BHBJO
played in 1872 at the West 01&3"

1 5A8IJDI
UFBN
BN
*
HPJOH
UP
of Scotland Cricket Club’s LASGOW is sizzling with tal- TVQQPSU  ground in Hamilton Gent and if more proof is At the start of the year, Crescent, Glasgow. The needed listen to singing chippy Scottish clothing and kilt teams have played 110 Luigi Corvi. makers Slanj encouraged matches; England have Now he has been discovered he fans not to back our near won 45, Scotland 41, and than that with their sipping a pint of John The majority of people could be catapulted from the neighbours, with the there have been 24 draws. Scottish neighbours. Smith’s, hoping Rooney’s we asked on the street Glasgow Cross chip shop to introduction of the Anyone Recently, England have So if the ‘Auld’ rivalry fifth metatarsal is alright? wished the England team Milan’s La Scala or London’s But England (ABE) developed rivalries with really is fading down When asked about sales all the best. Covent Garden. clothing range. the German and Argentina south, is the same of England shirts, staff at However, Slanj claim Opera aficionados can get a The T-shirts inspired national squads, after happening here? Greaves Sports, in that sales of their ABE little taste of his talent on BBC’s outrage, debate and World Cup clashes. Many Will the average Sauchiehall Street, range are at fever pitch. One Show tonight. laughter among Britain’s England fans now feel Scotland fan cover up their Glasgow said: “They’re So who will you be Lets hope Luigi leaves them population and most matches with these teams lion rampant with the flying out, we had to order cheering to lift the famous craving second helpings. people accepted there will warrant more of a rivalry cross of St George and sit another batch this week.” trophy? */
:063
01*/*0/ /FWFS
NJOE
UIF
'SFFEPN
PG
UIF
DJUZ
#JH
:JO
#JMMZ
$POOPMMZ
EFTFSWFT
B
,OJHIUIPPE 3&"%&34
-&55&34
o
1

-*/4&:
.033*40/

UPZ
,"53*0/"
(6--&4&-

'"*4"-
*"#6-

TIPQ
%"7*%
$0$)3"/


5IF
&WFOJOH
5JNFT
DPOGPSNT
UP
UIF
OFXTQBQFS
JOEVTUSZT
TIPQ
FNQMPZFF
DJUZ
DFOUSF
*#.
SFQ
#FBSTEFO

i*UBMZ
BTTJTUBOU
(BSOFUIJMM
DVTUPNFS
TFSWJDF
SFQ

WPMVOUBSZ
$PEF
PG
1SBDUJDF
BENJOJTUFSFE
CZ
UIF
1SFTT



$PNQMBJOUT
$PNNJTTJPO
8IJMF
FWFSZ
FGGPSU
JT
NBEF
UP
i&OHMBOE
*
MJLF
%BWJE
#FDLIBN

CFDBVTF
UIFZ
QMBZ
HSFBU
.Z
i&OHMBOE
4DPUMBOE
BSFOU
QMBZJOH
&BTUFSIPVTF

i)PMMBOE
*N
B
FOTVSF
UIF

BDDVSBDZ
PG
PVS
DPOUFOU
XF
VOEFSUBLF
UP
y
FWFO
JG
IFT
OPU
HPJOH
UP
CF
CPZGSJFOET
GSPN
/PSXBZ
CVU
UIFZ
TP
*MM
TVQQPSU
BOPUIFS
#SJUJTI
3BOHFST
GBO
BOE
IBWF
MPWFE
%VUDI
JOWFTUJHBUF
BMM
DPNQMBJOUT
BOE
DBSSZ
B
TVJUBCMF
DPSSFDUJPO
QMBZJOHw EJEOU
RVBMJGZ
FJUIFSw
UFBNw
GPPUCBMM
TJODF
7BO
#SPODLIPSTU
JG
XF
BSF
GPVOE
UP
CF
JO
UIF
XSPOH
"MM
DPNQMBJOUT
TIPVME
QMBZFE
BU
*CSPYw CF
TVCNJUUFE
JO
XSJUJOH
JO
UP
5IF
&EJUPS
&WFOJOH
5JNFT

3FOGJFME
4U
(MBTHPX
(
2#
0S
DPOUBDU
UIF
1$$
)BMUPO
)PVTF

)PMCPSO
-POEPO
&$/
+%
FNBJM
&7&3:
XFFLEBZ
XFMM
CF
PVU
PO
UIF
TUSFFUT
PG
(MBTHPX
UP
HFU
ZPVS
WJFXT
PO
XIBUT
JO
UIF

DPNQMBJOUT!QDDPSHVL www.eveningtimes.co.uk 803%
0/
5)&
453&&5 OFXT
GSPN
TFSJPVT
UPQJDT
UP
UIF
MJHIUIFBSUFE
TUPSJFT
UIBU
XJMM
CSJOH
B
TNJMF
UP
ZPVS
GBDF
49 Alexander Thomson

Greek Revival?

above An unapologetic intervention could soon be bedfellow to Thomson’s masterpiece

Glasgow’s decaying architectural legacy has long been waiting for appropriate benefactors to pull up. Now Alexander “Greek” Thomson has long after a wait of near half a century, those prayers look to have been answered for the former Caledonia Road been overshadowed by the cult of Church. Hot on the heels of the Egyptian Halls and St Vincent Street Church, this forelorn relic of bygone glory Mackintosh, however with a recent hat is to be pulled belatedly into the 21st century. Riding the crest of Glasgow’s commercial prosperity Thomson was able to channel the city’s trade wealth into trick of proposals, that may change. totems of architectural grandeur by drawing upon diverse influences from synomonous Greek homages to haunting burned out skeleton. Despite the international from a central location and intact interiors. Mark Baines Egyptian, Romanesque, Persian and Indian influences. significance of Thomson and being structurally sound, explains the decision: “The depths of connection The Church, at the time keen to assert its influence and this shell has been closed off to visitors since 1965 and Thomson had with the Gorbals are clear, he was an elder identity, provided a rich architectural seam for Thomson hints only obliquely at past grandeur. Reduced to a of the church, worshipped there, built a lot of tenements to sow, landing him a string of commissions that included romantic ruin the church carries all sorts of memories as between Eglinton St and Caledonia Rd and is buried in St Vincent Street Church and Queen’s Park Church one of the few surviving 19th century buildings in the the nearby Southern Necropolis. Saint Vincent Street on (sadly since destroyed). Gorbals and makes a highly memorable impact, the other hand is compromised in the eyes of the society As religion receded from the city however a litany of particularly from the north. by already having a number of other church related architectural marvels were left in its wake, purposeless, This situation has not gone unnoted by the Alexander activities going on in the meeting hall and disabled vandalised and in decline. Now Gholami Baines Architects Thomson Society who wish to put this historic wrong to access is problematic. Egyptian Halls was not necessarily in association with the Alexander Thomson Society have rights by transforming the crumbling structure of the a permanent location either as we would be renting intriguing plans to re-instate the full splendour of the existing A listed ruin into a custodian of Thomson’s work, space in the building as a commercial development Caledonia Road edifice in a contemporary fusion of old an archive to better communicate what was special which didn’t seem appropriate. It then dawned as and new. Of the many hurdles facing a scheme of this about his contribution to the city, which numbered some obvious that Thomson’s first public building, not so at magnitude it was the fact that Caledonia Road Church 140-160 projects since he first hooked up with John risk but still essentially isolated, was best placed to does not actually reside upon Caledonia Road that Baird in 1849. This is envisaged to take shape in similar house the collection.” presented one of the earliest head scratchers for the fashion to Le Corbusier’s Villa La Roche and Centro Sally White, secretary of the Alexander Thomson sites custodians. After some deliberation however it was Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, Society added: “In one sense we’re lucky at Caledonia decided to rename the church One Alexander Thomson Vicenza. Rd that we don’t have the responsibility of working with Place (ATP), to best articulate their new ethos. Nevertheless selection of ATP by the Alexander interior schemes. An ongoing debate with many buildings ATP has long sat sentinel over an important transport Thomson Society for such a home proved a thorny issue is do you recreate what was existing previously? Do you corridor between the south side and city centre, a for backers of St Vincent Street Church, which benefits peel away more of what remains? Do we touch up 50 Alexander Thomson Prospect

decoration or leave it the way it is? The destruction of the fundraising appeals, there is still a lot of work to be done similar vein to Cooper Cromar’s g1, is also planned, Caledonia Road interior makes that no longer an before the this building can provide a roof over the head though Morrison is wary of heritage body reaction: “an issue.” of the Thomson Society. inordinate amount of time and energy goes into trying to By reaching out to a still somewhat moribund swathe One Alexander Thomson Place will be built by a team promote such ideas and I feel that as a principle there of city, despite the intervention of New Gorbals which comprising Gholami Baines Architects, David Narro should be less of a presumption against it. That said, itself is walled off from neighbours, it is hoped the Associates, Buro Happold, Ross & Morton and WHITE such challenges are not new. Even Greek Thomson development can be a catalyst not only for Thomson but Design. spoke out against such resistance to new ideas. Given Glasgow as a whole, establishing a meaningful Greek Thomson’s progressive thinking I wonder if he partnership with the Mackintosh Society for cross Walk like an Egyptian would be more inclined to encourage the evolution/ collaboration, perhaps even realising a long held ambition The Morrison Partnership have unveiled long awaited change of his buildings to meet today’s demands or of bringing tourist buses south of the Clyde. plans to restore Alexander “Greek” Thomson’s Egyptian would resist all such thoughts.” Early on it was recognised that a gallery alone Halls for Union Street Properties. The £6.5m development Interminable delays and protracted negotiations have wouldn’t be sufficient to attract large numbers of people, represents culmination of 11 years investment directed witnessed considerable deterioration in the fabric of the different uses were needed to enrich the space with towards securing 100% ownership of the crumbling Egyptian Halls, notably the collapse of one of the main meeting, rooms, studios, apartments and museum. Halls, despite challenging and sometimes perplexing cupolas and the loss of much of the internal plasterwork Entrance to the building begins at a public space, obstacles. on the upper floors due to water ingress, which has defined by granite setts and a statue of Thomson Restoration of the famous A listed cast iron framed badly rotted the timber floors. Now the question is how strategically sited to greet visitors. A tall narrow slot on warehouse will reinvigorate a down at heel Union St by much of the building can be reasonably retained and can axis with the tower leads visitors uder the new building returning to prominence its most famous architectural those solutions be practical, economic and sustainable. and into a central courtyard lined with planting derived landmark, potentially initiating many spin off benefits as Morrison states: “The intention is to reinstate internally from classical decoration. The courtyard acts as a haven Soutar exclaims: “this project could be the linchpin of a those features where it is appropriate and practical in the from nearby noise and pollution and is the main source Townscape Heritage initiative for Union Street, similar to context of the proposals, as well as financially viable of natural ventilation. Within the courtyard a stone the Merchant City project”. bearing in mind the need for Planning and Listed doorway rescued by the Thomson Society from a George Morrisson of the Morrison Partnership said: Building Consents. Externally we will be endeavouring to warehouse on Watson Street leads into the Thomson “The current outward appearance is so dirty and forlorn retain principal features such as the front elevation and Gallery and Study Centre. that I guess the building does not register with most of where detail has been overlaid with more recent finishes Most dramatically the site will witness the construction the passing public.” Behind a thirty years in the making we will endeavour to reverse that work. Elsewhere inside of five storey new build accommodation on land coat of soot, grime and guano however resides one of the building we may discover other features hidden by adjoining the partial church gable, this satisfies the dual the most striking facades in Glasgow, with potential to more recent works. These will be recorded and where aim of recalling the scale of original tenements whilst make a real and lasting contribution to Union Street. possible and practical we will endeavour to retain in reinstating a northern frontage with ten serviced flats. Thomson’s heritage is subject to a belated revival in some form.” A minimalist facade of polished silver grey granite to fortunes of late and Morrison is happy that the famed Amongst the key steps still to be crossed are the north uses glazing sparingly to create a smooth structures now may be subject to strong and viable confirming a technical and practical solution, conveying geometric sheen that will reflect the light and weather. solutions but professes unease at any wider hook ups in the merit of such a solution; having those proposals South facing conservatories to the apartments view the the short term: “I would be concerned that early joint accepted, getting adequate funding for those proposals; tower. Baines describes: “Thomson’s buildings are all promotion of these buildings as a form of holy trinity getting the right type of contractors and getting funders monolithic, even timber detail is made to look like might appear to complicate matters and frighten off the to understand the project and providing the necessary masonry, so we didn’t want a mix of materials but very people (and their money) who might save the funding on reasonable terms something that was sharp, precise and machine cut.” buildings. As the future of these buildings becomes The tortuous timetable thus far traversed indicates Sedum roofs with solar panels will be incorporated with identified and on their way to being established then it that the road ahead will be by no means clear, a problem built in roof level lanterns and floor to ceiling glazing may be appropriate on the back of the increasing further compounded by the present economic climate. drawing in light. confidence and their individual success to establish Any new applications for Planning Permission and Listed As the City Council is providing financial support for some sort of cross promotion and reference. Building Consent will only happen once discussions with the planning application we can probably assume that Indicative proposals call for reinstatement of original the Authorities are complete but it is hoped that works permission will pass without a hitch. The same cannot motifs at ground level alongside standardised signage could be underway on site in 2010, though this is be said for funding however, which is still not in place. across the presently cluttered streetscape. Most predicated on parties executing their roles timeously to The city council have agreed to partner the Trust in any dramatically a contemporary roofscape intervention, in a establish and maintain momentum. www.architecturescotland.co.uk 51

clockwise Structural beams at St Vincent St have been clad in steel, a lead roof offers protection; One Alexander Thomson Place from the air; Egyptian Halls restored

St Vincent Street thin steel plates which span full length and tie the three designed by Mark Baines to include a similar facility is St Vincent Street Church, a recurrent entrant in the World truss-beams into the wallheads at both ends. currently being championed by the Thomson Society on Monuments Fund’s top 100 most endangered buildings, Hamilton voiced Page \ Park’s dilemma: “was it really the site of the former Caledonia Rd Church. stands a forlorn relic of past architectural glories, the only right to leave the structure in that condition if there is an Hamilton recalls: “these are parallel ideas but the surviving substantially complete church by Alexander opportunity to consolidate with minimum intervention? Caledonia Road proposals are obviously quite advanced. “Greek” Thomson remaining in Glasgow. Until recently it The Sanctuary space had to be preserved at all costs and St Vincent Street Church’s location is certainly more was imperilled by leaking roofs but these have finally been in themselves these interventions - the new lead roof central and accessible but it’s all about joined up thinking. addressed in a second phase of an ongoing programme finish and the structural strengthening have gone a The idea of a ‘Thomson Trail’ starting from his finest of restorative works by Page \ Park on behalf of owners, substantial way towards securing the building’s future.” surviving building and leading around his other city centre Glasgow City Council. Outlining the resultant attention to detail Hamilton works, perhaps out to Caledonia Road and deeper into The shallow pitching roofs to the main sanctuary and continued: “Each plate is only 10mm thick and has been the south side beyond to include Holmwood House (an lower side aisles were reslated in the early 1990s with engineered to follow precisely the bow on the individual earlier Page \ Park conservation project for The National slates insufficiently sized to protect the church in its truss beams which they support. The sides of the original Trust for Scotland) could be tempting to visitors. exposed location on Blythswood Hill and wind driven rain timber beams are decorated and extreme care was taken “Caledonia Road Church is a shell but it’s had the led to many leaks over intervening years. Ian Hamilton, to recreate that decoration on the faces of the steel plates essential repairs carried out to secure its future, albeit as Associate Director at Page \ Park explained that “much to the extent that it is impossible, even at close quarters, a shell. St Vincent Street Church is still a functioning time was spent soul searching and discussing with to tell the difference.” church and whilst relatively unchanged since its completion Historic Scotland and the Planning Department the issue Wider discussions are ongoing about the church’s it still needs significant amounts spent on it. The unique of changing the original roof finish. In the end it was long-term sustainable future. The World Monument Fund decorative scheme of ornate stencilled work and plaster agreed that a change from slate to lead-finished roofs chaired a recent workshop at Page \ Park’s Glasgow detailing within the main sanctuary must be restored as it would offer the best long-term protection to the valuable offices to discuss ideas for new possible uses of the is of world-class significance. That will be an enormously building fabric and finishes.” building. Included were representatives from Glasgow important, and costly, future phase of work.” Despite having stood for over 150 years without City Council, the Alexander Thomson Society, the St. The current economic climate makes conservation obvious distress structural engineers called into question Vincent Street Milton Free Church and ‘Chanan’ (both work ever more difficult to effect with Glasgow City whether the original slim, exposed timber structure of the current tenants), Historic Scotland, Glasgow Building Council strung out in so many different directions with main sanctuary roof had sufficient inherent strength and Preservation Trust, Visit Scotland and Page \ Park. Outline pleas for funding. The hope remains however that St lateral restraint, even without the additional loads imposed proposals for conversion of part of the church to provide Vincent Street Church could once more be a stunning by the new roof finish. The only strengthening option open an interpretation centre for Thomson’s work were monument to Glasgow’s forgotten genius- Alexander to the design team was the unorthodox approach of fixing discussed even though a more advanced development ‘Greek’ Thomson.”

8 EVENING TELEGRAPH NEWS Monday, May 31, 2010 Egyptian dream nears reality BA may face

A Dundee developer is closing in “summer of on his dream of resurrecting Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls some 30 years after they fell into commercial disruption” decline. Derek Souter, of Union Street British Airways was today warned it Investments, has ploughed £5.5 could face a “needless summer of million into the project so far, but disruption” because of the “hard man” has now reached an important stance of its chief executive over the milestone by signing up a hotel bitter cabin crew dispute. management company that is Tony Woodley, joint leader of Unite, expected to operate a 136-bedroom told the union’s annual conference in hotel in the historic building. Manchester a new ballot for continued He says the chance of saving a strike action may be only a week away. “world class architectural He issued the warning as cabin crew masterpiece” through a £20m-plus take the second day of a five-day redevelopment has never been walkout, with further industrial action closer. planned for next week. Egyptian Halls, now approaching The cabin crew launched their 14th dereliction, is one of the signature day of action today in a dispute which buildings of Alexander Greek Unite said had now cost BA £91 million, Thomson, Glasgow’s chief architect with each day of action adding £7 million. during the second half of the 19th Mr Woodley said the need for the crew Century. to seek a new mandate for industrial The 138-year-old Union Street action lay firmly with BA chief executive edifice, opposite Glasgow’s Central Willie Walsh and his “persistent refusal” Station, is one of the most elaborate to permit a peaceful settlement. in the city but has gradually fallen “With a deal on cabin crew costs into disrepair. already agreed between both parties, the Derek, and co-investors Kelvin airline could be restored to full operation Kerr and Duncan Souter, have been in time for the peak summer season — pursuing a rescue plan for 12 years but only if BA drops its vicious and now believe a deal is just determination to punish crew for striking around the corner. USI is just by removing their travel assistance,” Mr waiting for word on grant aid from Woodley said. funding sources with a decision BA said it had operated more services expected within weeks. than planned yesterday, including the Derek said, “Things are very close reintroduction of all of its services from now and we see June as being a big Heathrow to New York’s JFK airport, month. We are on the way to adding that it would continue to add to its schedule where possible. achieving our goal.” USI recently signed an agreement with Longrose Buccleuch to manage the proposed hotel. The Egyptian Halls in Glasgow’s Union Street. Breast cancer breakthrough hopes raised Hopes summer — turn to P11 Crash pilot is here to stay was ‘very By Graeme Bletcher lot of sunshine and temperatures reaching 19C in Scotland. competent’ Dundonians swapped sweaters for sunscreen today as a sunny Bank “The end of the week is also looking good, but into the week after we may see the weather become A pilot who died with his son in a more unsettled and a bit more cloudy. light aircraft crash on the Spanish Holiday Monday sparked high hopes that summer is here to stay. island of Menorca was a “very “We are expecting next week to be fairly mild, Aside from an unwelcome blip of rain tomorrow fingers crossed that British summertime has finally competent” flyer, a family friend said. but a bit more unstable.” morning, temperatures look set to stay steady arrived. Former RAF man Bruce Hook (63) throughout the week, with the Met Office Thursday and Friday may be the best time to An early morning update from a Dundee weather and his 26-year-old son Ian were killed predicting highs approaching 20 degrees Celsius break out the deck chairs this week, as a good observation station showed just a five kilometres- on Saturday as they prepared for an air from Wednesday. amount of sunshine is predicted with little cloud per-hour wind, humidity at 63% and a temperature race at the island’s San Luis aerodrome. of 13C. Sunseekers will be praying for no return of the and, most importantly, just a gentle southerly It is thought the plane had just taken freak conditions of last week, which saw heavy breeze. The 10-day forecast indicates a chance of light off when it nosedived, crashed and hailstone showers followed by the thunder and A Met Office spokeswoman warned that while rain at the start of next week before the sunshine exploded, killing the pair instantly. lightning that ripped through a church spire in breaks back through. Scotland has enjoyed the best weather in the UK Mr Hook senior, from Worcester, Broughty Ferry. today, it may not quite be time to ditch the cardigan This time last year Dundee was enjoying was flying his own plane — a Beech altogether. And after two weekends of glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 18C, with the city’s average Baron 55 in RAF colours — when the soaring temperatures earlier in the month, She said, “It will certainly be a nice day across spring temperature coming in at 14C and the accident happened. most local residents will be keeping their much of country today, with most places getting a average low at five degrees. Mr Hook has owned a village garage in Lapworth in the West Midlands for the past 32 years, where his son also Activists die as commandos worked. Business colleague Stephen Esslemont (44), from Solihull, who rents the garage forecourt, described storm Gaza Strip aid flotilla Mr Hook as a “kind, considerable and helpful person” and said he was Up to 10 pro-Palestinian activists were grabbed a weapon from one of the shocked by his death. reported killed today and dozens more commandos. The weapon discharged, He added, “After all the years he’s injured when Israeli naval commandos though it wasn’t clear whether the done it you don’t expect him to crash. stormed an aid flotilla heading towards activist fired it or it went off accidentally. He was a very competent pilot.” the blockaded Gaza Strip. Dozens of people — both soldiers and The two men are believed to have The Israeli army said the soldiers were activists — were wounded in the fierce been preparing for an air race attacked with knives and clubs as they clashes. They are being airlifted to organised by two branches of the Royal boarded the six vessels in the hospital by helicopter. Aero Club. Mediterranean early today. Israel has condemned the flotilla as a They left the UK on Friday to attend The Israeli military said the violence provocation and vowed to block it from the event in Spain, which Mr Hook turned deadly after one of the activists reaching Gaza. Activists were interviewed by reporters shortly before the attack. went to every year. Demolishing Egyptian Halls is last straw in 30-year development plan

Published on 10 May 2011

Union Street Properties (USP) has been forced to apply to demolish the Egyptian Halls in Union Street, Glasgow, because we cannot fund the Listed Building Repairs Notice (LBRN), which is a legally binding obligation.

An LBRN cannot be varied once it has been served (“Threat to demolish historic Greek Thomson building”, The Herald, May 5 and Letters, May 6). The near-£10 million deficit cannot be funded in the present commercial market, due to the absence of speculative funding and the 80% crash in property values on Union Street. An alternative solution is required.

USP cannot survive with the threat of the LBRN hanging over it. If it was removed there would not be a statutory duty to discharge it. The application to demolish focuses on the financial non-viability of the scheme, which would see the LBRN discharged and a 200-room hotel created. The latter does not relate to or concern USP.

The application to demolish follows to the letter Scottish Historic Environment policy and, according to the criteria laid down USP, qualifies on at least three of the four grounds.

I also have to state this is a 30-plus years problem which has come to a head. It’s bad timing for all stakeholders: Glasgow City Council, Historic Scotland, the Scottish Government, USP and Union Street Investments (USI). A decade ago the deficit would have been £3m. If I was in favour of demolition I’d not be taking to the streets of Glasgow to get signatures for a petition.

To preserve the Egyptian Halls and return it to commercial sustainability the new Scottish Government needs to engage with both USP and USI. No developer in these challenging times can expect any form of a blank cheque. A collaborative private/public sector project can still be implemented; one which is self-financing, accountable and transparent and would see the Scottish Government offered a share of any windfall profits, if they should accrue.

Derek J Souter, Director, Union Street Investments and Union Street Properties,

26 Foundry Lane, Dundee.

Great British architects

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson 1817–75

2 1

4

‘Thomson’s predilection for abstract form was the outcome of an

original mind’ Early career architecture rested. They failed to master Sir Albert Richardson, 1914 Alexander Thomson was born in Balfron, their style, and so became its slaves’. Stirlingshire, some 15 miles north of Glasgow. He seems to have been the first to apply Alexander Thomson was known as He was the 17th of the 20 children of a book- Picturesque principles of composition to the ‘Greek’ Thomson because of his tena- keeper at a cotton-spinning mill and part Greek style in his villas, as at his unique Double cious commitment to an idiosyncratic of an extended family that included several Villa at Langside (1856–57) where two iden- interpretation of Ancient Greek archi- Presbyterian missionaries. Thomson moved tical semi-detached houses face in opposite tecture at a time when it was completely to Glasgow with his widowed mother in 1825, directions. Thomson’s finest villa was Holm- out of fashion and Victorian Gothic was and, because of his aptitude for drawing, was wood at Cathcart (1857–58), of which his first dominant. An eloquent thinker as well articled to the Glasgow architect Robert Foote. biographer, Thomas Gildard, wrote that: ‘If as a practitioner, he came to believe For about 10 years, he worked for John Baird, architecture be poetry in stone-and-lime— that Greek architecture was an expres- a leading architect in the rapidly expanding sion of God-given ‘eternal laws’, and city, becoming his chief draughtsman. Thom- Gothic was an irrational, unstable son set up in independent practice in 1848 (Anglo-Saxon) style. However, he was no copyist, and believed that the Greek with another John Baird (no relation), both should be the starting point for a rational architects having married two daughters of modern architecture. His work was London architect Michael Angelo Nicholson. never pure Greek, and Egyptian and The partnership was amicably terminated in other exotic influences may be detected, 1857, when Thomson’s younger brother George as well as that of the Prussian architect joined the practice, until he left to be a mission- K. F. Schinkel. Practical and inventive, ary in the Cameroons. Thomson’s final pro- Thomson was happy to use cast iron fessional partner was Robert Turnbull. and large sheets of glass with tradi- tional stone masonry in his buildings. Villas Although his imagination ranged far Baird & Thomson began by designing villas and wide, he never travelled abroad, in the new suburbs of Glasgow and along and all his surviving work is in or near the River Clyde; these were in a variety of Glasgow. He designed villas, terraces, styles, including Gothic and Romanesque. commercial buildings and Presbyterian However, by the mid 1850s, Thomson had Egyptian Halls, Union Street (1870–72), a sort churches, in which it is possible to developed the refined and abstracted Grecian of bazaar or shopping centre with an exhibi- explore a recondite symbolism inspired manner for which he is known. He was never tion gallery, was Thomson’s largest and by the apocalyptic paintings of John a conventional Revivalist and he argued that most elaborate commercial building. The Martin. Thomson secured a reputation the earlier promoters of the Greek Revival sculptural treatment of the columns articu- beyond Glasgow, too, due to the con- had failed ‘because they could not see through lating each floor is different, rising to an Alastair Hunter/RIBA Library Photographs Collectoin; RCAHMS spicuous originality of his architecture. the material into the laws upon which that ‘eaves gallery’ below the enormous cornice

70 Country Life, January 13, 2010 www.countrylife.co.uk of the dining room either side of the Thomson and specially made by the Holmwood House, Glasgow entrance. Inside, the staircase rises under Garnkirk Fireclay Company What to look for a circular cupola, and most rooms were 3 The square piers dividing the window Thomson’s finest and most elaborate embellished with a scheme of painted openings are a simple abstracted form villa was built in 1857–58 in a rural site decoration. The house is now owned by derived from Greek architecture, but in Cathcart, for James Couper, a paper the National Trust for Scotland. much used by Schinkel in Berlin manufacturer. It is a Picturesque asym- 1 The low-pitched slate roof (not wholly 4 The huge sash windows, which go up metrical composition in Thomson’s Greek practical in the west of Scotland), with and down, are placed behind and deli- style, with the projecting circular bay of generous eaves supported on cast-iron berately separate from the stone piers the parlour balancing the large windows brackets, typical of Thomson’s villas 5 The long wall directly connecting the 2 The terracotta chimneypots villa with the detached coach house is with lotus-flower tops an example of Thomson’s love of con- were designed by tinuous horizontality, which can make his villas prescient of the later prairie houses of Frank Lloyd Wright

3

5

a great temple an epic—this exquisite little more scientifically constructed than York Min- in London must have seemed unfashionable gem, at once Classic and Picturesque, is as ster.’ His most elegant example is Grecian in England to the point of perversity. Only complete, self-contained, and polished as Buildings in Sauchiehall Street (1867–68). in Glasgow, perhaps, could his idiosyncratic a sonnet.’ Thomson designed the furniture and approach and his exotic imagination flourish. fittings, too, plus the painted decoration. Churches Thomson was not well in his latter years, Thomson’s largest buildings were churches. and, had he survived the severe winter of City architect He designed great temples for United Presby- 1874–75, he planned to make his first trip Thomson designed a number of impressive terian congregations, which Hitchcock con- abroad, to Italy, to try to recover his health. terraces in Glasgow, in which single houses sidered to be ‘three of the finest Romantic But this was not to be, and he was buried in were combined in various ways to make power- Classical churches in the world’. All had richly the Southern Necropolis in Glasgow. ful unified compositions. The grandest was decorated interiors. The first was the Cale- Great Western Terrace (1867–77), but, for the donia Road Church (1855–57, now a gutted American historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, ruin), where a raised-up temple portico was Moray Place in Strathbungo (1859–61) was ‘the combined with an asymmetrically placed finest of all nineteenth-century terraces… tower. The most inventive was the Queen’s and one of the world’s most superb pieces Park Church (1868–69), which was as much of design based on Greek precedent’. In this Egyptian as Greek in inspiration; its destruc- terrace—in which Thomson himself lived tion by fire in 1943 was Scotland’s worst from 1861 until his death—the ‘mysterious architectural loss of the Second World War. power of the horizontal element’ is evident, The only intact survivor is the St Vincent Street achieved through Thomson’s ‘principle of Church (1857–59), with its unprecedented repetition’. His façade treatment for Queen’s exotic steeple, like a modern interpretation Park Terrace (1856–60, dem.) influenced the of the Temple of Solomon, in which the gal- design of Glasgow’s blocks of tenements. leries and clerestory are carried on shaped Thomson designed several commercial cast-iron columns, and plate-glass windows warehouses Glasgow, in which cast-iron struc- were applied directly to the masonry. tures lay behind stone façades that incorpor- Thomson’s contemporaries regretted that ated large plate-glass windows. Their eleva- he was never awarded a commission for tions are remarkable for the way in which he a public building commensurate with his The St Vincent Street Church of 1857–59 is dissolved the wall plane into a sculptural, talents. The decision of Glasgow University to Thomson’s only surviving intact place of dynamic composition of columns, lintels and give its new buildings to Gilbert Scott, without worship. The Ionic portico may be fairly architraves. These were developments of the competition, provoked a searing, eloquent conventional, but the steeple, rising to an trabeated language of the Greeks and reflected attack on the Gothic Revival from the archi- exotic dome, is full of Old Testament allu- his morbid suspicion of the arch, for, as he tect, but Thomson’s designs for the Albert sions and the whole dramatic composition, notoriously once said: ‘Stonehenge is really Memorial and the South Kensington Museum on a sloping site, is without precedent

www.countrylife.co.uk Country Life, January 13, 2010 71 2009 MEDIA COVERAGE 16 NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Wednesday November 18 2009 EVENING TIMES COMMUNITY NEWS FACES IN CITY LINK Developer proposes new lane SARAH SWAIN THE ● I am covering Pollok, NEWS Newlands, Cathcart, Pollokshaws, Primarypraised Mansewood, Priesthill, Househillwood, Arden, forcurriculum Carnwadric, South IT’S THE A CLYDEBANK Nitshill, Darnley. primary Call me with your news on 0141 302 6532 or school has e-mail: [email protected] won an award for outstand- ing develop- ment of the ■ Exotic birds set to fl y in international dimension of its curriculum. GLASGOW Museums Suitable for kids Kilbowie primary WORD Resource Centre is aged seven and headteacher Julie Cameron holding a special above, children collected the award from the family event to will be able to make British Council at a celebrate exotic birds their own advent ceremony in London to mark of the world. calendar. the 75th anniversary of the On Saturday, Places are limited council. Kilbowie was one of November 28, you can for both free events only eight Scottish winners. get a close look at the and booking is beautifully preserved essential. creatures from 1-2pm. Call 0141 276 9312 or Profputsbrain ON THE It will be followed e-mail gmrcbookings by a workshop where @csglasgow.org kids can make a bird The centre, which underspotlight mobile. is home to a vast A Countdown to collection of objects PROFESSOR Christmas children’s from around the Roddy workshop is also world, is at 200 Williamson, being held on Woodhead Road on dean of the December 29 from South Nitshill University of 1-3pm. Industrial Estate. the West of STREET Scotland’s Faculty of Science and ■ Residents help clean-up Technology, will look at how DOZENS of residents in Priesthill joined in a the brain works in a public clean-up at the weekend. lecture at 5pm on December Priesthill Youth Club, social housing and 3 at the Paisley campus. By GRAEME MURRAY “Basically, we create a refurbishment specialists Connaught, Glasgow For tickets to “Models for HE owners of one thoroughfare from Union Community and Safety Services, Sanctuary the Amateur Brain Surgeon”, Glasgow’s forgotten Street through to NCP’s car Housing, Strathclyde Police Pollok Community call 0141 848 3598 or email park in Mitchell Street. The [email protected] architectural gems Officers and Orlit Tenants Group also donned believe it could form fusion of the car park and the rubber gloves to help. Egyptian Halls pivotally links They cleared litter and dumped items from the part of a ‘cultural this new architectural entity T corridor’ bringing Muirshiel area with equipment supplied by MSPiswarmon to The Lighthouse and to Glasgow City Council’s Clean Glasgow campaign together two of its most Mitchell Lane which exits on Organiser Donna Foote said: “We’re delighted so famous architects. to Buchanan Street,Glasgow’s many made it along to help us with the clean-up.” energyaction The “Mackintosh-Thomson prime shopping area.” Mews” would create a new The Lighthouse, which was MSP Patricia path connecting Alexander once the home of the Evening Ferguson got ‘Greek’ Thomson’s Egyptian Times and latterly a centre for ■ Fair bid to aid charity a warm Halls on Union Street with design and architecture, is NEWLANDS South and CHAS also welcome as Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s facing a battle for survival Church held a benefited from selling she visited Lighthouse building in after a cash crisis. Christmas fair on Christmas cards. Glasgow Mitchell Lane. But Culture Minister Saturday in aid of the The choir of Housing The ambitious proposals Michael Russell yesterday new Teenage Cancer Langside Primary Association tenants to learn hinge on the fi rst phase of the said he was committed to Trust Unit at Yorkhill’s School also sang. about home improvements. Egyptian Halls being complet- reatining an architecture Sick Kid’s Hospital and The next event at Ms Ferguson visited Alex ed and either a retailer or centre in the building and staff Alzheimer’s Scotland. the church, on and Hettie Ogilvie as part of hotel operator occupying the would transfer their employ- Stalls including Riverside Road, will the Warm Homes Campaign, historic halls which have lain ment from The Lighthouse home baking, crafts be the Children’s Club led by charity Energy Action empty for decades. Trust to Architecture and and a tombola helped Christmas party on Scotland to raise awareness The move would involve Design Scotland. raise £1,500. December 5 and new of the issue of cold and creating a “combined retail Cancer Research kids are welcome. expensive-to-heat homes. and parking asset” using SP, which has invested NCP’s Mitchell Street car park £5.5million into restoring which would link with The the Egyptian Halls, has ■ Market comes to town Ryanlandstop Lighthouse via a newly- U now started marketing its created lane leading from historic building. SILVERBURN’S Farmers’ market is on this hospitalitytitle Union Street via Mitchell Lane Bosses today admitted talks Sunday outside Next from 10am until 3pm. to Buchanan Street. had been held with the car The market runs the last Sunday of every Union Street Properties park operator about the month at the shopping centre in Pollok. CLYDEBANK High School believe the idea offers a one- ambitious Mackintosh- off opportunity to increase Thomson Mews blueprint pupil Ryan years and they will now be Kee has been awareness of both architec- which is now being given more ■ New twist on panto fun tural treasures and create a consideration. revisited.” named Bosses claim the potential of Scotland’s top vibrant commercial retail and No link currently exists PANTOMIME Fifi and Fou-Fou, who leisure route opposite the between Union Street and a re-modernised NCP car park hospitality at the rear of Egyptian Halls Cinderella is coming all conspire to ruin student by Quality Meat Union Street entrance to Mitchell Lane, but developers to Pollok Community Ella’s chance of going Central Station. believe the move would bring and the creation of the mews Scotland. would increase awareness of Centre. to the ball.” Ryan was presented with Derek Souter for Dundee- together Glasgow’s most A new twist on the The festive show is based Union Street Properties famous architects in a project The Lighthouse and help it a £250 prize at the school achieve commercial festive favourite is written by Johnny recently after emerging as (USP) said: “Already there is which could help regenerate being performed on McKnight. quite strong interest in The down-at-heel Union Street. sustainability. the best student from a Car park operator NCP Friday, November 27 For tickets, which total of around 6,500 Egyptian Halls, however there The proposals could also see at 1.30pm and 6pm. cost £7 £5 and £3.50 is a one-off opportunity to the creation of landmark today confirmed it was youngsters taking hospital- investigating the feasibility of Organisers said: call 0141 276 9696 ity courses. think out of the box and meeting place on Buchanan “Get ready to boo the (choose option 1) or speculate whether Thomson’s Street which would mark the USP’s proposals. evil Madame De’mon visit www.platform- architectural masterpiece can entrance to the new mews. A spokeswoman said: “NCP and the ugly sisters, online.co.uk Do you have a story and be merged with NCP’s Mitchell Mr Souter added: “Outline recognises this opportunity picture you want featured in Street car park to create a new discussions have been held and we are looking into it.” Look out for more news from your part of our people column? Just e-mail retail and car parking asset. with NCP over the past few graeme.murray@ the details and a picture to: eveningtimes.co.uk the city in our Community News column [email protected] EVENING TIMES Wednesday November 18 2009 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 17 Starcoaches linking two of Glasgow’s architectural masterpeices shareadvice withparents

TOP tennis coach Judy Murray and SFA director of football Jim Fleeting are among the leading names from sport taking part in a question and an- swer session for parents. Scottish Athletics na- tional performance coach Laurier Primeau and former rugby interna- tionalist Sir Bill Gammell will also join the panel for the parenting work- shop organised by Posi- tive Coaching Scotland. The panel will urge par- ents to set the right exam- ple to their kids on and off ■ The revamped Egyptian Halls in Union Street, the sports fi eld, as a posi- above, could be linked to Mitchell Street car park tive step in alleviating the high levels of drop out from youth sport. The event takes place at 8pm tomorrow at Eastwood Theatre, East Renfrewshire. Onlineboost forplanning applications

ONLINE planning in East Renfrewshire is achiev- ing its three-year target within six months of starting. Planning applications ■ Mitchell Lane, can be put in online and right, is already residents can also see home to stylish plans, track the progress bars, a boutique of applications and see and a trendy decisions via the web. hairdressers Analysis by the Scot- tish Government rev- ealed that with eight per cent of applications on- line, East Renfrewshire is two and a half years ahead of schedule. DRURY East Renfrewshire’s REET STREET planning convener, Coun- ST cillor Ian McAlpine said: “This is wonderful news. Having the planning information online makes it simpler, faster and much RENFIELD easier for residents.” GORDONSTREET Militaryband marchesinto

REET REET ST localschools ST ION

AT MARINE musicians have UNIONPLACE LANE

ST P staged an invasion of our schools. MACKINTOSH-THOMSONMEWSMITCHELL The Band of Her BUCHANAN Majesty’s Royal Marines GORDON performed a mix of mili- ENTRANCE / EXIT

CENTRAL tary music, chart-toppers and classic rock hits at REET NCP EGYPTIAN Linwood High School in ST HALLS Renfrewshire today, hav- ing already played at both Bishopbriggs and

UNION LIGHTHOUSE Lenzie Academies. NEWROUTE In addition to the short TO/FROM concert, pupils were also ARGYLE BUCHANAN given a presentation on STREET STREET life in the Royal Marines Band Service before tak- ing part in fun music workshops. Members of the Royal ■ The new route would offer a direct link between Central Marines Band provide Station, the Egyptian Halls, the Mitchell Street car park, the musical support for the Lighthouse and stylish shops and boutiques of Buchanan Street Royal Navy and the Royal Marines at every type of occasion. THE HERALD WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2009 NEWS | 9 Sitcom’s New vitamin pill against blindness child stars nominated Anti-oxidant aims to slow sight leading to a large blind spot and leaking. This is rarer but All have been included in of a good diet but the reality in the centre of the eye. Suf- much more rapid and serious. ‘Therearealotof a new vitamin supplement, is we don’t have a good diet ferers find it increasingly dif- Risk factors include poor diet, Ocuvit Complete, launched nowadays.” for comedy loss suffered by 63,000 Scots ficult to read, eat or recognise smoking, obesity, high blood peopleoutthere by the optical company “There are certainly a lot of people and are at risk of fall- pressure and excessive expo- Bausch and Lomb. people out there who would ALAN MacDERMID provided two-thirds of the ing down stairs. sure to short-wave light and whowould benefit Mr Grierson said: “The benefit from the supplements. awards required level of lutein com- AMD is the leading cause advancing age. Women and recommended daily intake They cost £15 a month, which A NEW supplement carrying pared to the one-third pro- of blindness in the developed Caucasians are also more vul- fromsupplements’ of lutein for normal health is is cheap if they are doing you FAMILYcomedy Outnum- an anti-oxidant that staves off vided by today’s diets. world and affects the macula, nerable, and a family history 6mg, and during the war the some good, but it is still a hole bered is leading the way at blindness has been launched He was speaking at the an area at the back of the eye. is also a risk factor. from lutein and zeaxanthin, average intake was 4mg. Pow- in the budget and you have to this year’s British Comedy in Scotland. launch in Scotland of the It happens when the cells Research has already shown which as carotenoids help to dered egg was a good source. weigh it up. Awards, with five nomina- The multi-vitaminwill tackle new supplement containing that scavenge the area fall that supplements containing provide a filter in front of the Now it is down to 2mg.” “If you are 30 and have a tions including three for its a steep decline in the average the ingredient, together with down on the job and a lot of vitamins C and E, and also macula to protect it against Mr Grierson said that a diet good diet the answer is prob- young stars. consumption of lutein, which omega-3 and vitamins that debris builds up – known as zinc, can slow the progress light damage. rich in oily fish, fruit and veg- ably no. Stand-up comics Michael has fallen by half since the slow the progress of macular “dry” AMD, the most com- from dry to wet, and a number The new additives also act etables like carrots and pep- “But if you are 40-50, have McIntyre and Alan Carr will Second World War. degeneration. mon form. of products containing these as anti-oxidants, scavenging pers could make a difference a lousy diet, a relative with also have high hopes for the According to leading oph- Age-related macular degen- This can progress to “wet” have been marketed. the free radicals that accu- – but he takes supplements AMD, or one or two other risk ceremony, with three nomi- thalmologist Professor Ian eration, AMD, is thought to AMD, when blood vessels A more recent study has mulate around the macula in too. factors, then it would be well nations apiece. Grierson, wartime rationing affect about 63,000 Scots, start growing out of control shown protective effects AMD. He said: “I am all in favour worth thinking about.” BBC1’s Outnumbered, which has been hailed by crit- ics for its innovative, partly improvised style and believa- ble performances, has earned Plans drawn newcomer nominations for all three of the show’s child actors. Claire Skinner, who plays up to link the their middle-class mother Sue Brockman, is up for best comedy actress, while the show also features in the best sitcom category, vying with legacies of a Channel 4’s Peep Show, star- ring David Mitchell and Rob- ert Webb, and The IT Crowd. Webb is in the running for city’s greatest best comedy actor and has a further chance to pick up an award forThat Mitchell And Webb Look, which is nomi- nated for best sketch show. two architects McIntyre and Carr will go head to head with Harry Hill in the best comedy enter- which have lain empty for tainment personality and EXCLUSIVE decades. entertainment programme Derek Souter, of Dundee- categories. GRAEME MURRAY based Union Street Proper- Hill’s TV Burp scooped the ties, said: “Already there is best comedy entertainment AMBITIOUS plans have been quite strong interest in the gong last year, while Carrwon unveiled for a thoroughfare Egyptian Halls. However, the entertainment personality that would finally link the there is a one-off opportunity award. legacies of Glasgow’s greatest to think out of the box and McIntyre is nominated for architects – Charles Rennie speculate whether Thomson’s best live stand-up this year, Mackintosh and Alexander architectural masterpiece can while Alan Carr:Chatty Man “Greek”Thomson. be merged with NCP’s Mitch- is also up for best new British The Mackintosh-Thom- ell Street car park to create a TVcomedy. son Mews would run from new, combined retail and car Sacha Baron Cohen’s con- Thomson’s Egyptian Halls in parking asset. troversial film Bruno, about a Union Street to Mackintosh’s “We can create a thor- gay Austrian fashion expert, hidden jewel, The Lighthouse, oughfare from Union Street and In The Loop, the movie in Mitchell Lane. through to NCP’s car park in spin-off of the BBC’s dark Union Street Properties, Mitchell Street. Two giants of Scottish architecture political comedyTheThick Of which is behind the plan, “The fusion of the NCP It, are both up for best film. believes it car park and Alexander “Greek” Thomson ● He was an elder of the United Charles Rennie Mackintosh ● His designs gained in popularity Pulling, BBC3’s comedy would increase the Egyptian ● Born in 1817 in Balfron, Stirling- Presbyterian Church of Scotland. ● Born in Glasgow on June 7, 1868, following his death in 1928. about three hard-drinking awareness of ‘Thereisstrong Halls pivot- shire, he was the ninth of 12 children. ● His Glasgow buildings include the fourth of 11 children. ● His House for an Art Lover was thirtysomething women, both archi- ally links this ● He married Jane Nicholson in three of the world’s celebrated ● He met fellow artist Margaret built in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park which was axed after two tectural trea- interestandit’s new architec- 1847 and had 12 children, but later Romantic Classical churches – the MacDonald at the Glasgow School of in 1996. series, is up for best television sures and cre- tural entity lost five of them to an epidemic. Caledonia Road Free Church, Art. The two married in 1900. ● The Glasgow School of Art comedy drama. ate vibrant anopportunityto to The Light- He developed his own highly Queen’s Park United Presbyterian ● His first grand architectural project building, erected between 1897 and Two of the show’s stars, commercial house, and to idiosyncratic style from Greek, Church and St Vincent Street Church was the design of the Glasgow Herald 1909, is regularly cited as among the Rebekah Staton and Tanya shopping and thinkoutofthebox’ Mitchell Lane, Egyptian and Levantine sources. – and the Egyptian Halls, above left. Building, above right, in 1893. finest buildings in the UK. Franks, are also in the running leisure space which exits on for best female newcomer. opposite the to Buchanan Harry Enfield and Paul Union Street entrance to Street, Glasgow’s prime shop- Whitehouse have earned a Central Station. ping area.” and that staff would transfer Talks have been held with famous architects in a project Mr Souter added: “Outline ness of The Lighthouse and nomination for the second The move would involve The Lighthouse, which was their employment from The NCP about the Mackintosh- that could benefit all parties discussions have been held help it achieve commercial series of their sketch show, creating a shopping and park- designed by Mackintosh as Lighthouse Trust to Architec- Thomson Mews blueprint, involved and help regenerate with NCP over the past few sustainability. while last year’s comedy ing centre using NCP’s Mitch- a home to the then Glasgow ture and Design Scotland. which is now being given a down-at-heel Union Street. years and they would now be Car park operator NCP panel show winner QI will ell Street car park. Herald, is facing a battle for USP has invested £5.5 more consideration. The bold proposals could revisited.” yesterday confirmed it was battle it out with Have IGot It also depends on the first survival after a cash crisis. million into restoring the No lane currently exists also see the creation of a It is claimed a re-mod- investigating the feasibility of News For You and Mock The phase of the Egyptian Halls Culture Minister Michael Egyptian Halls and has also between Union Street and landmark meeting place or ernised NCP car park at the USP’s proposals. Week. being completed and either Russell said yesterday he was now started marketing the Mitchell Lane but developers ‘Lightbox’ on Buchanan rear of Egyptian Halls and A spokeswoman said: “NCP The awards ceremony will a retailer or hotel operator committed to basing an archi- historic building to potential believe the move would bring Street, which would mark the the creation of the mews recognises this opportunity air on ITV1 and ITV2 on Sat- occupying the historic halls, tecture centre in the building occupiers. together Glasgow’s most entrance to the new mews. would increase aware- and we are looking into it.” urday, December 12. ‘Slow learner’ Susan Boyle Online neologism ‘unfriend’ bullied and beaten at school is dictionary word of the year

BRITAIN’SGot Talent star She added: “But it’s all very “UNFRIEND” has been Other words deemed ing a business model in which Susan Boyle has revealed different now. I think teachers named the word of the year finalists for 2009 by the dic- some basic services are pro- she was bullied at school and are taught to understand chil- by the New Oxford American tionary’s publisher, Oxford vided for free, and “funem- beaten by teachers who were dren with learning disabilities Dictionary, chosen from a list University Press, came from ployed”, referring to people ignorant about children with a lot better.” of finalists with a tech-savvy other technological trends, taking advantage of newly learning disabilities. Referring to being bullied bent. the economy, and political unemployed status to have In her first interview since at school, she said: “There’s Unfriend was defined as a and current affairs. fun or pursue other interests. finishing her debut album, I nothing worse than another verb that means to remove In technology, there was In the political and cur- Dreamed A Dream, Boyle, person having power over you someone as a friend on a “hashtag”, which is the hash rent affairs section, finalists 48, said: “You’re looking at by bullying and not knowing social networking site such as sign added to a word or included “birther”, meaning someone who would get the how to get rid of that thing.” SUSAN BOYLE: Debut album Facebook. phrase that lets Twitter users conspiracy theorists chal- belt every day. ‘Will you shut Boyle also described how looks set to sell 100,00 copies. “It has both currency and search for tweets similarly lenging President Barack up, Susan!’ – whack!”. she used her faith to cope potential longevity,” said tagged; “intexticated” for Obama’s US birth certificate, She continued: “I was a with the death of her mother Lothian, became an unlikely Christine Lindberg, senior when people are distracted and “choice mom”, a person slow learner. I’m just a wee bit Bridget in 2007. international superstar after lexicographer for Oxford. by texting while driving, and who chooses to be a single slower at picking things up She said: “That’s what appearing on Britain’s Got “In the online social net- “sexting”, which is the send- mother. than other people. So you get keeps you going. I have my Talent earlier this year. working context, its meaning ing of sexually explicit SMS Novelty words making the left behind in a system that faith, which is the backbone Global sales of her album, is understood, so its adoption messages and pictures by shortlist were “deleb”, mean- just wants to rush on, you of who I am, really.” which will be released next as a modern verb form makes mobile phone. ing a dead celebrity, and know? That was what I felt The former church work- week, are expected to be in this an interesting choice for Finalists from the economy “tramp stamp”, referring to a was happening to me.” er from Blackburn, West excess of 100,000. word of the year.” included “freemium”, mean- tattoo on the lower back. Town first in the UK to make WiFi free for all

AN English town is to become man Rikki Hunt, who came the first in the UK to provide up with the concept, and dig- free wireless internet access ital technology firm aQovia to all its residents, it has been to create a new company – revealed. Digital City UK. Swindon, in Wiltshire, will Under the brand name Sig- be covered by a “WiFi mesh” nal, it will roll out the tech- offering blanket internet cov- nology throughout the town. erage for its 186,000 citizens, Line rental is free and there is the council said. no connection charge. The The £1 million project will public will be able to access be funded by a mixture of the internet and download public and private money, but e-mails without charge but it hopes to break into profit usage will be limited. with residents subscribing to Anti-virus software and faster, paid-for access above popular services offered by the free service. Microsoft and Google will all Some 1400 secure access be on the network. points will be fitted around There are also plans to Swindon, similar to those deliver information such as used in homes. real-time details on home The borough council electricity usage and air qual- worked with local business- ity monitoring. 4 NOBODY KNOWS GLASGOW BETTER Saturday June 13 2009 EVENING TIMES EVENING TIMES Saturday June 13 2009 367,000 WEEKLY AUDIENCE IN PRINT AND ONLINE 5 FACES IN THE Cancelled NEWS Walkingonthe MoonisaBuzz HIDDENTOMB ISREVEALED wedding BUZZ Aldrin walked on the moon 40 WegetsneaklookattheEgyptianHalls, whicharesetfora£6.5Moverhaul years ago. Now he’s battlelost celebrating with some hotel’s presentation of moon tunes performed by Couple ordered the wedding package the Boston Pops. details had been mislead- The celebration includes to pay £3000 to ing from the start. singalongs of the standards lochside hotel “She summed it up Blue Moon, It’s Only a Paper with these words ‘they Moon, Moon River and Fly A COUPLE have been want to get your money Me to the Moon. ordered to pay £3000 and say we’ll deal with Aldrin was the second to a luxury hotel things later’. man to walk on the moon, “However, I accept the following Neil Armstrong on after cancelling their couple failed to appreci- July 20, 1969. wedding due to “hid- ate the full implications den costs”. of the bargain. John and Helen “It must have been Cher’sdaughter Lindsay, from Tollcross, plain to them that charges Glasgow, were planning beyond that of the deposit hassexchange a big white wedding at itself were due in the The Lodge on Loch event of cancellation.” CHASTITY Lomond in Luss but The sheriff added he BONO, the called it off after they would not make the cou- daughter of were told they would ple pay for the hotel’s Cher, is having have to pay £600 extra to estimated bar charges a sex change. host the ceremony there. and room bookings. Bono The couple – who The couple approached began the finally wed at the the hotel in late 2006 to sex-change process to Bothwell Bridge Hotel – become a man earlier expected to lose just a this year, her spokesman £500 deposit but a clause She claimed the said. in the hotel’s contract Publicist Howard meant they were liable details were misleading Bragman said Bono was for half of the total cost. from the start proud of the decision. The lodge, whose The 40-year-old writer, famous guests have book their wedding for activist and reality television included Bill Clinton and September 2007, taking star revealed 20 years ago George Bush Snr, had ini- the venue’s premium that she was gay. tially demanded almost Macmillan package and £5000 from the couple. paying a £500 deposit. This was to cover costs In January 2007 they MileyCyrusto including potential bar were sent a copy of the takings and rooms that hotel’s standard wedding might have been booked contract, signed it and playUKconcerts by their guests. returned it to the hotel. But in a written judg- TEEN pop star When they were later ment lodged at Glasgow told about an extra £600 Miley Cyrus Sheriff Court yesterday, has I fee they cancelled. After almost 30 years of neglect, the restoration work Sheriff Sean Murphy The couple received an announced required inside the Egyptian Halls is apparent, but it’s a ordered the couple to pay dates for her invoice for £4931 in July challenge owner Derek Souter, left, is prepared to face £3000, plus the hotel’s 2008. They offered to pay first UK legal expenses. concerts as £2000 but the hotel Sheriff Murphy said: refused to accept this. she continues to build a pop “Mrs Lindsay claimed the career in her own right rather than as her alter-ego Hannah Montana. Cyrus, 16, who plays a By GRAEME MURRAY dirt and grime on schoolgirl with a secret the outside of the HE owners of one of identity as Hannah Montana building hides None of Thomson’s architectural Windfarmto in the Disney series and Glasgow’s most important Thomson’s ornate brilliance can be seen from inside movie, will perform two A-listed architectural frontage, thought to and there is no evidence of the nights at London’s O2 Arena treasures have warned be among the original use as a shopping bazaar and on December 13 and 14. that time is running out to architect’s finest exhibition space. T work. save it. But from the roof you can see some create£200M Work has started trying to salvage But inside, the of the ornate frontage of the building. Princewins the crumbling fabric of the semi- building is a shell, full Architects the Morrison A GIANT wind farm will The farm, to be devel- derelict Egyptian Halls in Union of rubble and Partnership have been charged with generate orders worth oped by Scottish and decaying plaster more than £200million for Southern Energy, will Street after decades of disputes over consideration.” coming up with a scheme to barracks’battle its ownership. which latterly housed transform the halls. firms in Scotland, the generate enough power a Chinese restaurant The derelict four- First Minister has said. for about 200 homes. The Prince of The A-listed Alexander ‘Greek’ The £6.5m development is the and an Inland empty since 1982. It’s not in any storey halls were built in 1873 The 152-turbine farm SSE said it will provide Wales has Thomson building has stood still and are now reached via a shuttered culmination of 11 years of investment while almost 30 years have passed. Revenue training centre. danger of falling down but there is to be built near Abingdon, at least 100 jobs in its won his battle internal deterioration and water door at pavement level opposite the which has finally secured 100% to get the And decades of decay have taken Derek Souter’s Dundee-based firm ownership of the halls. in Lanarkshire, will be construction phase and Union Street Properties has been ingress and you reach a cut-off point side entrance to Central Station. the single biggest wind 30 in its operational life. developers its toll on the historic building’s where something has to be done. From there, a steep, dimly-lit And it’s believed the halls’ structure. involved with the halls for 11 years farm to have been given Mr Salmond said: “The of Chelsea “There are a few options for it and staircase leads you to the first floor. restoration will be the catalyst for Barracks to But now owners have finally been but, because of legal issues over Behind 30 transforming the rest of Union Street. consent in Europe. sheer scale of the Clyde ownership, only took possession of we are looking at offices, retail or The decay of the interior is Alex Salmond hailed wind farm reflects drop their modernist design allowed to start rescuing the 136- hotel use because of its prime immediately noticeable and the halls’ years of Architect George Morrison said: for the project. year-old treasure and transforming it the building last year. “The current outward appearance is the potential for firms Scotland’s ambition and Now he is hopeful the firm can location. time as a restaurant is still evident when he visited the site ability to become the The Middle East owners into a £6.5million retail, office or with Chinese characters on its dusty soot, so dirty and forlorn that I guess the hotel scheme. salvage the halls with a huge “Given its proximity to Central to see preparatory work. clean, green energy capi- announced they have Station it would seem a great location windows and crimson flock wallpaper grime and bird building does not register with most withdrawn planning Scaffolding has been erected on investment after years of neglect. of the passing public. The project will cost tal of Europe. But after the Evening Times was for a hotel. desperately trying to cling to its walls. £500m, and the £200m- “Scotland boasts a application, less than a the outside of the building and the A caged liftshaft occupies the droppings is “Behind 30 years worth of soot, painstaking process has started to given an exclusive tour of the four- “We are keeping it wind and worth of contracts will clear, competitive advan- week before it was due watertight and managing the stairwell leading to the top floor and grime and bird droppings, however, to be considered by restore its stonework, windows, roof floor property, Mr Souter warned time one of the most resides one of the most striking include a £10m order for tage in the development is running out to save the historic deterioration when we can but we are climbing the stairs gets increasingly Machrihanish-based of clean, green energy planning chiefs. and the ironwork supporting its precarious as holes become more striking facades facades in Glasgow.” blackened façade. halls. aware there are ground floor traders Welcon Towers to supply sources with 25% of The decision follows and their trade is paramount in our evident. [email protected] intervention by the Prince. Underneath the decades of fumes, He said: “It’s more or less been in Glasgow turbine towers, helping Europe’s offshore wind to secure 100 jobs. and tidal power.” The man who built Glasgow

Alexander Linklater

21 Jun 1999

Alexander Linklater welcomes the belated recognition for an architect whose work stands comparison with that of Rennie Mackintosh Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson has, at long last, been officially invited back home to Glasgow. Banners in George Square sport his profile equally with that of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Clydesdale bank has started using the same image of Thomson for its #20 notes. And, most importantly, a major exhibition of his work, due to open this weekend, inaugurates the Lighthouse museum on Mitchell Street as the central focus of Glasgow's year of Architecture and Design. It is, in fact, the only exhibition exclusively dedicated to the city which Glasgow 1999 is staging. Certainly, there should have been more. With hindsight, it becomes clear that the recent ill-attended Vertigo exhibition theorising future world cities would have had broader appeal and vision if it had specified the substance of its home city instead. But if you are going to do Glasgow, then there is no single figure from the entire cultural history of the city better to represent it than Thomson. The fact that in the last 40 years Glasgow itself has so comprehensively failed its greatest creator only emphasises the drama of this exhibition. Most of the 100 or so buildings that Thomson designed between 1849 and 1875 survived until the 1960s. Thereafter, they began to vanish with terrifying speed. Extensive blocks of his tenements in Gorbals and Tradeston fell victim to the infamous demolition programmes. Unnecessarily, so did commercial buildings in Bath Street and villas in Pollokshields and Shawlands. Thomson's finest tenements, at Queen's Park Terrace, were pulled down as late as the 1980s. Caledonia Road Church, one of the greatest Victorian churches ever built, barely survives as a ruin. Of all the buildings Thomson designed, less than two thirds remain. It is only very recently that Glasgow, not to mention Scotland as a whole, has woken up to Thomson. The National Trust for Scotland has recently refurbished Holmwood House, his finest villa. If an ownership feud surrounding the Egyptian Halls in Union Street is resolved, his finest commercial building may also re-emerge from decline. And the selection of St Vincent Street Church as a World Heritage Site looks set to save his only still-living church. The urgency of this concerns far more than the mere preservation of heritage scraps. In a dazzling introduction to the illustrated book which accompanies Glasgow 1999's exhibition, curator Gavin Stamp frees Thomson from the past, brandishes him as one of Scotland's major creative originals, and sets him up as as a key inspiration for innovators of the future. It is not as a simple revivalist - ''Greek'' or classical or otherwise - that Thomson stamped his mark on architectural history. Rather Thomson's aspiration to dis-cover fundamental laws in ancient Greek or Egyption styles which drove him to the threshold of a structural abstraction. ''We do not contrive rules; we dis-cover laws,'' Thomson once declared with characteristic zeal. ''There is such a thing as architectural truth.'' Ever since the Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson society was established in 1991, Gavin Stamp has been one of a few stalwarts who have championed Thomson as the ''Unknown Genius''. As the title of the exhibition he has co-curated with filmaker Murray Grigor (whose film on Thomson, Nineveh on the Clyde, screens later in June), this has now come full circle as a meaningless phrase. The contents of Stamp's book of the same name says it all: Thomson built villas, terraces, tenements, commercial buildings, churches and monuments. He was Glasgow's cardinal city maker. Stamp sees the revival of Thomson for Glasgow 1999 as a civic symbol, conceding that ''official attitudes have now changed.'' But he doesn't believe Thomson's real importance was ever really forgotten. ''Ordinary Glaswegians never ignored him,'' says Stamp. ''I don't think he's ever been forgotten.'' Destruction of Thomson, whether intentional or not, has left holes in the civic memory. At the centre of the exhibition a huge and miraculously reconstructed model of the Queen's Park Church, bombed into extinction during the war, is an amazing reminder of the force of imagination which once drove a city. Reconstructed capitals from columns in the St Vincent Street church demonstrate that it was an ambition brilliant with interior colour as well as structural ingenuity. Here is Thomson being exhibited in a building designed by the normally more celebrated Charles Rennie Mackintosh which demonstrates that - in terms of originality alone - Glasgow possessed at least two architects of equal genius. Thomson emerges from the very centre of Victorian Glasgow, and in many respects represents the glowering ambitions of his times. But his use of the ''Greek'' can be deceptive. ''How is it . . . there is no modern style in architecture?'' he asked in 1871. His solution was ''to abandon with all convenient expedition the whole mass of accumulated human traditions under which we have been, as it were, smothered.'' ''Greek'' Thomson was neither, precisely speaking, a neo-classicist nor, exactly, an early modernist. His were the fierce outlines of a genuine original.

Legal battle threatens Greek Thomson's masterpiece | Sunday Herald, The, Jun 13, 1999 | by Darran Gardner 1A VITAL restoration plan to save Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's most celebrated architectural masterpiece has stalled after becoming a casualty of a bitter legal wrangle between a suspended accountant and an ex-football club chairman. The battle for ownership of Thomson's landmark Egyptian Halls on Glasgow's Union Street is being fought between Tom Dyer, an accountant suspended from his professional body for cheating a bankrupt out of #80,000 and Derek Souter, who resigned his vice- chairmanship of Dundee FC in disgust at the club's links to Giovanni Di Stefano, the controversial Anglo-Italian businessman and friend of Serbian warlord Arkan.

Both men currently own a key part of the threatened property. The restoration project, originally intended to be the highlight of Glasgow's City of Architecture and Design celebrations, is now scheduled for 2000, having been at the mercy of legal negotiations since the early 1990s. Glasgow City Council has backed Souter's bid to redevelop the building, having previously initiated a compulsory purchase notice against the property - citing failure to comply with repair orders - in a desperate bid to save the listed property. Dyer claims he was not given enough time to carry out the repair work. Souter's company, Union Street Properties (USP), is involved in advanced negotiations to purchase two street-level shop units, currently occupied by an insurance company and a London- based businessman. This would give USP control of the entire ground level and all but half of the upper floors, which are owned by Dyer's company, Paratus Ltd. Despite the compulsory purchase notice, which is currently awaiting a Court of Session hearing and will be pursued by the city council unless he agrees to sell to Souter, Dyer appears reluctant to sell, claiming he has a plan to develop the property into a hotel and restaurant complex. His refusal to sell continues to block restoration work. In 1998, Dyer was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Institute of Chartered Accountant's Disciplinary Committee after an investigation into allegations that he cheated a bankrupt and his creditors out of an estimated #80,000. He was ordered to pay costs of #18,000 and was suspended from the institute for three years. Remedial work on the building's exterior began at the end of last year, with the interior being stripped in preparation for future construction work. Those involved include architects Morrison Partnerships and engineers Peter Stephen and Partners. According to George Morrison, a senior partner at Morrison Partnerships, the building, while in terrible shape, can be saved: "The building is in better shape than we feared. We have stripped out all the secondary work that has been done over the years and returned it to the original form. We hope to see a significant step forward in the next month or so." The history of the Egyptian Halls is complex. Built in 1871, using cast iron and stone, the Halls turned architectural wisdom on its head. The Halls were designed 'upside down', featuring thick stone columns - usually found at ground level - on the top floor, as well as featuring pionerring glass frontage shops at street level. Dr Gavin Stamp, architectural historian and head of the Greek Thomson Society, admits that few in Glasgow realise the importance of the building: "Egyptian Halls wasn't just a warehouse, it was a shopping centre cum bazaar, with promenade concerts inside. It was a Glasgow institution." In 1991, the building was in such bad condition that the council issued a repair order to a Hong Kong restaurateur who owned part of the upper floors. In 1995, this property interest was sold to Dyer. According to the Land Registry office in Glasgow, ownership of the building through a variety of sales and leases, with the property falling into a "black hole". Other Thomson landmarks such as the Caledonian Road Church and the St Vincent Street Church have also fallen into disrepair, with a cash-strapped council and other grant-making bodies like Historic Scotland unable to fund essential restoration. Don Bennett, deputy director of Development and Regeneration Services at Glasgow City Council, admits that with a reduced #400,000 conservation budget, battles such as that over the Egyptian Halls only make things harder. "There are an awful lot of listed building in Glasgow. We'd like to save every one, but we'll never have the resources to do that. If we step in, it invariably takes money from elsewhere. We just can't afford to invest in every one." Born in Stirlingshire in 1817, Alexander Thomson is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable architects to work in Scotland. His ability to design distinctive yet classical buildings earned him the nickname 'Greek'. As part of the city's architecture and design year, Thomson's work will be celebrated in a new exhibition at The Lighthouse later this month, but the future of his greatest work remains in the balance. Tom Dyer was unavailable for comment. l See also Directory 1 2

PRE-2009 MEDIA COVERAGE 42 HALLS CRISIS CALL 43 JOHN GLENDAY

GLASGOW’S EGYPTIAN HALLS HAVE LAIN QUIETLY MOULDERING FOR DECADES. BUT WHAT LIES BENEATH THE RESPECTABLE FACADE? WHAT TALES ECHO THROUGH ITS CRUMBLING HALLS? CAN A DRAWN OUT DECLINE BE ARRESTED? URBAN REALM INVESTIGATES...

URBAN REALM WINTER 2010 URBANREALM.COM 44 HALLS CRISIS CALL 45

Left - Mysterious stains and splattered remains tell a sorry tale of neglect Right - Many areas, particularly on upper fl oors, are unsafe

Entering Egyptian Halls is an experience akin to entering one Bearing witness to this sad tale of decline over the past his fellow investors (Duncan Souter and Kelvin Kerr) now to the roof a panorama of surrounding developments can be of the tombs from which Alexander “Greek” Thomson took decade is fast talking Dundonian developer Derek Souter of enjoy 100% control and the fl exibility to seek a partnership of observed, highlighting the relatively low rise nature of the Halls inspiration for this his fi nest surviving commercial work. USD Ltd. A larger than life fi gure who has been campaigning the public and private sectors to revitalise the architectural in Glasgow’s roofscape. From this lofty vantage Souter points Past steel security shutters the hustle and light of Union to convert the ailing landmark into a hotel or o ce space landmark. out recent developments such as gm+ad’s Vienna Apartments Street swiftly gives way to a fraught torchlight crawl up for over 11 years. He declared: “If this fi nal opportunity is not To achieve this it will be necessary for Historic Scotland, and Page & Park’s Lighthouse extensions as appropriate a stairwell which grants access to the fi rst fl oor, an open realised and if the fl oors can’t be repaired, then the stairs go GCC and Scottish Enterprise to agree on a signifi cant funding precedents for the Egyptian Halls to truly stand tall once again. plan space formerly occupied by a Chinese restaurant. The and the façade will need to be propped and perhaps eventually package, with the remainder of the £12m costs sourced Inevitably some commentators have balked at the occasional spot of incongruous Mandarin and a nightmarish demolished due to combined cost and structural issues. This is privately, probably through a BPRA funding vehicle, with desecration of an A listed structure which, as a building type, kitchen now enveloped entirely by darkness save for two a doomsday scenario for Union Street which is in dire need of Souter stating there could be “100% payback of grant funding have become increasingly common throughout the city centre feature atria drawing guano dappled light to the interior. regeneration NOW.” within a decade” and that no money would be accepted until although a harsh planning regime generally stifl es any fl air These measures are in place not to deter grave robbers Costs of refurbishment have soared on the A listed in their execution, evidenced but rather to dissuade Glasgow’s transient population from warehouse after a 20 year period of prevarication, in which If this fi nal opportunity is not realised and if the fl oors by an unobtrusive glass box at bedding down on its musty fl oors. The detritus from pre time the building fabric has continued to deteriorate. Said » Holmes’s 110 St Vincent Street, secured entry days still litters the fl oors of the building in the Souter: “We’ve spent the last three years with GCC/Historic can’t be repaired, then the stairs go and the facade will or attempting to ape the historic form of page three girls, Irn Bru cans and the odd takeaway Scotland stating what would happen and it is now becoming need to be propped and perhaps eventually demolished. « shoulders upon which the wrapper providing clue to the Halls’ last unwelcome tenants. reality at an accelerating pace. Our plans, which would preserve extension sits ala Keppie’s 145 St Such artefacts are promised to be removed in a clear up of the the building’s unique iron framework and add a three storey an end user was identifi ed. Souter also reinforced USP/USI Vincent Street. The extension here drops any classical allusions premises by owners Union Street Developments Ltd. extension, were fi rst raised in late 2006. Now, after another investment to date is £5M. in favour of a straightforward glazed setback which developer It is a sad fall for one of the city’s few remaining Thomson £350k of investment by USD, it’s now conceded by GCC Revised plans for the Halls designed by the Morrison and architect insist will not intrude upon the primary elevation landmarks, a fall that has been less precipitous than that “there’s structural issues” with the fl oors, which literally Partnership/Addison Conservation have been with GCC/HS when viewed from the street. surreptitious. From the street the Halls’ solid masonry appears skyrockets the costs and which we’d also identifi ed late 2006.” for 8/9 months and should receive listed building consent for Derek Souter agues however that obsession over the eternal, but this masks ongoing degradation of the interior Such a collapse has stoked fears that, were it to happen, the upper fl oors to become o ces or (more likely) a 110-120 elevations detracts from the real issue of saving the building: structure, a deterioration that threatens the structural stability council taxpayers would be landed with a massive bill to prop bedroom hotel with Retail/Restaurant/ Bars on the ground “As a director of the company that could save this building of the building. the façade up. This process could close o a section of street fl oor and a business centre or gym in the basement area. The there’s a darn sight more than just the “elevations” i.e. the Described as Thomson’s fi nest surviving commercial and impede tra c on what is a major city congestion point and location lends itself to this form of mixed use and would see unique cast iron frame. If we’d been allowed to proceed with building, the structure, when built in 1872, was originally less a cause business to further hemorrhage on Union Street. an ailing and tra c choked Union Street benefi t from long our previous scheme in 2000 we’d not have needed the extra warehouse and more a bazaar or early shopping mall replete However, with long running problems over ownership overdue investment. fl oors as we do now, due to massive cost increases. Then again with an exhibition gallery. Six cast iron lamp standards once resolved after Glasgow City Council (GCC) served compulsory Critical to this redevelopment is provision of a three tiered this is a real project, which needs a sustainable, deliverable stood proudly at the entrance but have since been removed. purchase orders on upper fl oor owners in 1995, Souter and set back glass extension to crown the Halls. Gaining access commercial future. No Lighthouse here I’m afraid to say!” >

URBAN REALM WINTER 2010 URBANREALM.COM 46 HALLS CRISIS CALL 47

Interestingly that symbol of public sector profl igacy could be thrown a lifeline in phase two of these works which would see creation of the Mackintosh – Thomson Mews, a commercial arcade running through Mitchell Lane and creating a new route from Buchanan Street to Central Station. USP regard this move as a means to increasing the commercial sustainability of the Lighthouse by enhancing east west permeability through the city centre, though it may come too late to save the architecture centre itself. Commenting on the prior funding application a spokesperson for Historic Scotland stated: “There is no current application before us for grants. We previously o ered a grant to the owner but that fell through because the owner pulled the project, considering it no longer commercially viable”. But Souter clarifi es: “The project was not pulled but the present scheme was now unviable both structurally and commercially, hence a new scheme was required,” opining: “Over 11 years it’s been nigh impossible to generate a cohesive public body approach and talk of fast tracking, which we sought way back in 2001 is at last potentially there but is still embryonic and needs collective agreement and activity. However an application for Historic Scotland and Scottish Above - The Halls as they could be, a rooftop extension hidden from view Enterprise via their Property Assistance Fund is currently being Below - The Halls as they once were back in their Victorian heyday prepared. If we can get all three bodies co-operating e ectively there’s a fi ghting chance for the Egyptian Halls. I’ve written to around 25 key people at GCC/HS/SE and the Scottish Executive to try to achieve this”. If the fraught 21 year history of Egyptian Halls regeneration e orts is anything to go by the omens for a speedy resolution do not appear good. So why is Souter optimistic that things will work out this tme? He states although one can always be derailed the impending Commonwealth Games does provide a bigger incentive commercially than the City of Culture way back in 1999. This optimism assumes grant funding and planning permission will be granted by December allowing work to commence on site by March 2010. Time will tell if this transpires but, as Souter says, we owe it to Alexnder “Greek” Thomson to achieve this. Perhaps the city also owes it to itself to ensure the lasting legacy of one of its most famous architectural sons.

1985-1991  Jan 1991  Mid 98  Early 99  1999-2001  2004  2007  2001-2007  2007-2008  2001-2009  2009  2009  2009-2012 GCC/HS become GCC serves a Listed Purchase No 88 and Purchase No 84 Union Superior, replacement USP buys the fi nal USP buys 50% of the Remaining 50% Paratus lodge USP/GCC/HS become USP transfers Hotel or O ces 1. Grant Funding/ increasingly concerned Building Repairs Notice No 96 Union Street. Street and enter CPO scheme, which Ground fl oor unit at Upper Floors from Man Upper Floors owners an appeal to the increasingly aware ownership of Upper accepted in principle Planning permission: with Upper Floors. on the Upper Floors. missives with GCC to preserves the entire No 100 Fung Lung. –Paratus, lodge CPO Court of Session, of the accelerating Floors to USI, to allow for the Upper Floors, Oct-Dec 2009 develop the Upper building is awarded Compensation claim projected three year deterioration of the funding fl exibility. proposals for grant 2. Confi rmed end user: Floors. Existing scheme, £350k of grant funding. for £1m and fi nally process. USP reaches Egyptian Halls, the support with GCC/ Oct 2009-Mar 2010 which has £1.4m of Agreement with get awarded £25k at agreement with accelerating costs SE/HS. Private sector 3. Tender Process: grant comes under existing owners of Lands Tribunal. Paratus and then has to repair/refurbish brought in if this grant Mar 2010-Oct 2010 scrutiny. Upper Floors falls apart. 100% ownership. combined with support is forthcoming. 4. On site: Oct 2010 the massive fall in All stakeholders 5. Completion: Jun Commercial Property realise the economic 2012 values. environment they are working within.

URBAN REALM WINTER 2010 URBANREALM.COM Egyptian Halls gain lease of life as owner dispute settled

GERRY BRAIDEN 12 May 2008

One of Scotland's most historically significant buildings will be given a new lease of life after two decades of ownership disputes were resolved.

One of Scotland's most historically significant buildings will be given a new lease of life after two decades of ownership disputes were resolved.

The semi-derelict Egyptian Halls, designed by Alexander "Greek" Thomson in the mid-1800s and dominating Glasgow's Union Street, will undergo a £5m clean-up and refurbishment before being marketed as a retail or office development.

One suggestion is it could return to its original use as a commercial outlet and be turned into an upmarket shopping centre, along the lines of the Princes Square mall on nearby Buchanan Street.

Various attempts to bring the halls, regarded as Thomson's commercial masterpiece and architecture of world-class significance, back into use have been hampered by what the owners describe as "18 years of intense, fractious and complicated wrangling".

Even plans to restore the building when Glasgow was City of Architecture and Design in 1999 failed because of ownership disputes. It currently lies vacant and covered in grime above shops.

A report from 2003 found the A-listed structure required a new roof and guttering; its cupola reinstated and extensive masonry repairs, while dry rot needed treatment and the windows and doors overhauled before the plasterwork could be reinstated.

The building's long-overdue return will begin when the project goes to tender in November, with developers moving on-site next May or June. The provisional completion date is December 2010 but this will depend largely on the outcome of discussions with Glasgow City Council and Historic Scotland as well as the planning process.

The deal to conclude ownership was sealed last week, with Dundee-based Union Street Properties buying the remaining 50% of the upper floors. Director Derek Souter said: "We have invested approaching £4m over the last decade to achieve 100% ownership despite numerous and complex obstacles. "This will begin the process of re-energising Union Street, which is still one of Glasgow's busiest thoroughfares, whilst acting as a catalyst for more investment in the area - an objective which many stakeholders, including the council, have recently stated they would like to see achieved."

He added the final investment figure, thought to be around £5m, and the eventual purpose of the halls would be determined by trading conditions when it is marketed.

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: "We look forward to working with the new owners to bring forward the scheme of repairs which will return this very important building to its original condition."

If we truly love our architectural heritage, we will have to fight for it

From the archive

29 May 2004

Another part of Scotland's architectural heritage began to bite the dust yesterday when work started on demolishing Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson's offices in Glasgow city centre. It was not just neglect or the ravages of time and weather that did for the building, which had been granted ''A'' listed status in 1990 because of the work the Glasgow-born architect had done to grace it with his Classical design signature. The listing, denoting a building of national or international importance, counted for nothing when Glasgow city council decided that, structurally, it was a risk to public safety and had to come down. The building is one of some 1500 on the at-risk register maintained by the Scottish Civic Trust on behalf of Historic Scotland. Other factors contribute to threatened buildings appearing on the register, including inadequate planning regulations, an unwillingness, or lack of imagination, on the part of property developers to meet their obligations to the historic properties they have acquired and a lack of central funds to help meet the cost of repairs that can be onerous. As a result of all of these factors, buildings that should be cherished because they are part and parcel of our heritage are disappearing at a worrying rate. In Glasgow alone, which has some 70 buildings on the list, the trust is concerned that, at the present rate of loss for Thomson properties, the city could be bereft of them within 20 to 25 years. Yet Thomson was one of the two architects of international repute produced by Glasgow (the other was, of course, Charles Rennie Mackintosh). Imagine the outcry if a Mackintosh building were allowed to a fall into a ruinous state and demolition was the only feasible option. Yet Thomson was just as important as Mackintosh. He was the master of Victorian architecture whose designs largely earned Glasgow its reputation as the quintessentially Victorian city, a reputation on which it still trades productively today. If only it had been so careful about the work of its native son, still struggling to escape from the shadow of Mackintosh. The Free Church of Scotland church on St Vincent Street, considered Thomson's finest surviving work but letting in water and suffering from crumbling stonework, has been placed on the 100 most-threatened buildings by the World Monuments Fund. Will it be next to go? All that can be said is that, unless the regulations are tightened up and developers are made to fulfil their duties, Scotland's built heritage will continue to vanish, and we will all be the poorer for that. As matters stand, local authorities have powers to protect historic buildings at risk from structural or other problems, or which are threatened with demolition. The most important is to apply a repairs notice. This requires the owner to undertake repairs to a listed property within a certain timescale. Failure to comply can result in the council, or strictly the planning authority, carrying out the repairs and charging the owner. As a last resort, the authority can seek a compulsory purchase order to make sure the work is done. Faced with the prospect of taking ownership of a building requiring perhaps millions of pounds of expenditure, however, councils are loath to take on that burden. Glasgow is apparently one of the most reluctant authorities to instigate repairs notices. However, it would be unfair to lay all of the blame on it, or any other council, grappling with the problem of a historic building in a deteriorating condition. In Glasgow's case, particularly, it is strapped for cash and has levels of deprivation to address far higher than any other local authority. Which should be the priority, protecting a listed building or supporting health and education initiatives to open the door on opportunity? If all of the owners of historic properties met their responsibilities the question probably would not need to be posed. There is a duty on the owner of a structure of architectural interest to maintain that property, but the authorities, whether at a council or heritage level, face a huge problem persuading them to live up to their obligations. Someone who inherits a historic property but lacks the funds to repair it is in a very difficult situation. The major source of assistance is funding from the historic buildings repair grant scheme. However, the scheme is vastly overburdened and, to indicate the pressure on funds, these are allocated two or three years in advance. It can suit developers to sit on their investment in hopes of turning a profit when the property market picks up. That might be in their interest, but it is not in the interests of the buildings in their care. Self-interest also applies in the case of developers who want the prime land the building sits on, rather than the structure itself. In such cases, it suits developers if the building becomes so unstable as to require demolition. Then they can put up the structure they want, and hang the consequences for the historic streetscape, now gone forever. The law does not seem to be a deterrent, as the case of Alistair Dickson demonstrated last year. He was fined (pounds) 1000 for illegally demolishing 200-year-old Lanrick Castle on his Stirlingshire estate. How long before hard-nosed developers factor in such sums when costing a potential development constrained by the inconvenience of a listed building? The latest demolition in Glasgow should act as a wake-up call to all with an interest in protecting Scotland's vulnerable built heritage. Our historic, listed buildings cannot exist in aspic. They have to be put to new uses if they are to live on, but their integrity must also be maintained. Perhaps the time has come for the introduction of statutory powers for local authorities to make that happen, before it is too late.

Glasgow's remarkable Egyptian Halls

From the archive

25 Aug 2000

EGYPTIAN Halls in Union Street, Glasgow, built in 1870-72 as a sort of shopping centre and gallery, is a late work by Alexander Greek Thomson and one of the most remarkable commercial buildings of its time in Britain. Its deteriorating condition, exacerbated by multiple ownership, has long been of concern to those who care about the architecture of Glasgow. In recent years, positive steps have been taken to resolve this intolerable state of affairs. Following the serving of a compulsory purchase order by Glasgow City Council in 1996, further damaging delay was threatened by changes of ownership and the threat of litigation, but in the event this was avoided by Mr Derek Soutar of Union Street Developments acquiring majority ownership. An admirable structural and conservation report was commissioned and, with the support of Historic Scotland, the long overdue restoration and refurbishment of this largely derelict city-centre listed building seemed imminent. Now the future of Egyptian Halls is again in jeopardy as Scottish Enterprise Glasgow has informed the owner that it cannot now provide #245,000 grant assistance to the project as ''it is not a priority in terms of the Operating Plan 2000-01'' and ''does not fit with any of the priorities for Scottish Enterprise National''. Yet, only three years ago in its former guise of the Glasgow Development Agency, this publicly-funded body felt able to assist a more destructive scheme for Egyptian Halls which did not respect the integrity of Thomson's iron-framed interior. Particularly as one of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow's ostensible aims is ''the development, redevelopment and improvement of the environment'', it would be interesting to learn why the improvement of Union Street through the regeneration of a largely unused commercial masterpiece by an internationally celebrated Scottish architect who is now recognised as being one of Glasgow's great heritage assets is not regarded as being of economic benefit to this city.

Gavin Stamp, Chairman, Alexander Thomson Society, 1 Moray Place, Glasgow. August 23.

August 22.

The man who built Glasgow

Alexander Linklater

21 Jun 1999

Alexander Linklater welcomes the belated recognition for an architect whose work stands comparison with that of Rennie Mackintosh Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson has, at long last, been officially invited back home to Glasgow. Banners in George Square sport his profile equally with that of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Clydesdale bank has started using the same image of Thomson for its #20 notes. And, most importantly, a major exhibition of his work, due to open this weekend, inaugurates the Lighthouse museum on Mitchell Street as the central focus of Glasgow's year of Architecture and Design. It is, in fact, the only exhibition exclusively dedicated to the city which Glasgow 1999 is staging. Certainly, there should have been more. With hindsight, it becomes clear that the recent ill-attended Vertigo exhibition theorising future world cities would have had broader appeal and vision if it had specified the substance of its home city instead. But if you are going to do Glasgow, then there is no single figure from the entire cultural history of the city better to represent it than Thomson. The fact that in the last 40 years Glasgow itself has so comprehensively failed its greatest creator only emphasises the drama of this exhibition. Most of the 100 or so buildings that Thomson designed between 1849 and 1875 survived until the 1960s. Thereafter, they began to vanish with terrifying speed. Extensive blocks of his tenements in Gorbals and Tradeston fell victim to the infamous demolition programmes. Unnecessarily, so did commercial buildings in Bath Street and villas in Pollokshields and Shawlands. Thomson's finest tenements, at Queen's Park Terrace, were pulled down as late as the 1980s. Caledonia Road Church, one of the greatest Victorian churches ever built, barely survives as a ruin. Of all the buildings Thomson designed, less than two thirds remain. It is only very recently that Glasgow, not to mention Scotland as a whole, has woken up to Thomson. The National Trust for Scotland has recently refurbished Holmwood House, his finest villa. If an ownership feud surrounding the Egyptian Halls in Union Street is resolved, his finest commercial building may also re-emerge from decline. And the selection of St Vincent Street Church as a World Heritage Site looks set to save his only still-living church. The urgency of this concerns far more than the mere preservation of heritage scraps. In a dazzling introduction to the illustrated book which accompanies Glasgow 1999's exhibition, curator Gavin Stamp frees Thomson from the past, brandishes him as one of Scotland's major creative originals, and sets him up as as a key inspiration for innovators of the future. It is not as a simple revivalist - ''Greek'' or classical or otherwise - that Thomson stamped his mark on architectural history. Rather Thomson's aspiration to dis-cover fundamental laws in ancient Greek or Egyption styles which drove him to the threshold of a structural abstraction. ''We do not contrive rules; we dis-cover laws,'' Thomson once declared with characteristic zeal. ''There is such a thing as architectural truth.'' Ever since the Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson society was established in 1991, Gavin Stamp has been one of a few stalwarts who have championed Thomson as the ''Unknown Genius''. As the title of the exhibition he has co-curated with filmaker Murray Grigor (whose film on Thomson, Nineveh on the Clyde, screens later in June), this has now come full circle as a meaningless phrase. The contents of Stamp's book of the same name says it all: Thomson built villas, terraces, tenements, commercial buildings, churches and monuments. He was Glasgow's cardinal city maker. Stamp sees the revival of Thomson for Glasgow 1999 as a civic symbol, conceding that ''official attitudes have now changed.'' But he doesn't believe Thomson's real importance was ever really forgotten. ''Ordinary Glaswegians never ignored him,'' says Stamp. ''I don't think he's ever been forgotten.'' Destruction of Thomson, whether intentional or not, has left holes in the civic memory. At the centre of the exhibition a huge and miraculously reconstructed model of the Queen's Park Church, bombed into extinction during the war, is an amazing reminder of the force of imagination which once drove a city. Reconstructed capitals from columns in the St Vincent Street church demonstrate that it was an ambition brilliant with interior colour as well as structural ingenuity. Here is Thomson being exhibited in a building designed by the normally more celebrated Charles Rennie Mackintosh which demonstrates that - in terms of originality alone - Glasgow possessed at least two architects of equal genius. Thomson emerges from the very centre of Victorian Glasgow, and in many respects represents the glowering ambitions of his times. But his use of the ''Greek'' can be deceptive. ''How is it . . . there is no modern style in architecture?'' he asked in 1871. His solution was ''to abandon with all convenient expedition the whole mass of accumulated human traditions under which we have been, as it were, smothered.'' ''Greek'' Thomson was neither, precisely speaking, a neo-classicist nor, exactly, an early modernist. His were the fierce outlines of a genuine original.

Legal battle threatens Greek Thomson's masterpiece | Sunday Herald, The, Jun 13, 1999 | by Darran Gardner 1A VITAL restoration plan to save Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's most celebrated architectural masterpiece has stalled after becoming a casualty of a bitter legal wrangle between a suspended accountant and an ex-football club chairman. The battle for ownership of Thomson's landmark Egyptian Halls on Glasgow's Union Street is being fought between Tom Dyer, an accountant suspended from his professional body for cheating a bankrupt out of #80,000 and Derek Souter, who resigned his vice- chairmanship of Dundee FC in disgust at the club's links to Giovanni Di Stefano, the controversial Anglo-Italian businessman and friend of Serbian warlord Arkan.

Both men currently own a key part of the threatened property. The restoration project, originally intended to be the highlight of Glasgow's City of Architecture and Design celebrations, is now scheduled for 2000, having been at the mercy of legal negotiations since the early 1990s. Glasgow City Council has backed Souter's bid to redevelop the building, having previously initiated a compulsory purchase notice against the property - citing failure to comply with repair orders - in a desperate bid to save the listed property. Dyer claims he was not given enough time to carry out the repair work. Souter's company, Union Street Properties (USP), is involved in advanced negotiations to purchase two street-level shop units, currently occupied by an insurance company and a London- based businessman. This would give USP control of the entire ground level and all but half of the upper floors, which are owned by Dyer's company, Paratus Ltd. Despite the compulsory purchase notice, which is currently awaiting a Court of Session hearing and will be pursued by the city council unless he agrees to sell to Souter, Dyer appears reluctant to sell, claiming he has a plan to develop the property into a hotel and restaurant complex. His refusal to sell continues to block restoration work. In 1998, Dyer was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Institute of Chartered Accountant's Disciplinary Committee after an investigation into allegations that he cheated a bankrupt and his creditors out of an estimated #80,000. He was ordered to pay costs of #18,000 and was suspended from the institute for three years. Remedial work on the building's exterior began at the end of last year, with the interior being stripped in preparation for future construction work. Those involved include architects Morrison Partnerships and engineers Peter Stephen and Partners. According to George Morrison, a senior partner at Morrison Partnerships, the building, while in terrible shape, can be saved: "The building is in better shape than we feared. We have stripped out all the secondary work that has been done over the years and returned it to the original form. We hope to see a significant step forward in the next month or so." The history of the Egyptian Halls is complex. Built in 1871, using cast iron and stone, the Halls turned architectural wisdom on its head. The Halls were designed 'upside down', featuring thick stone columns - usually found at ground level - on the top floor, as well as featuring pionerring glass frontage shops at street level. Dr Gavin Stamp, architectural historian and head of the Greek Thomson Society, admits that few in Glasgow realise the importance of the building: "Egyptian Halls wasn't just a warehouse, it was a shopping centre cum bazaar, with promenade concerts inside. It was a Glasgow institution." In 1991, the building was in such bad condition that the council issued a repair order to a Hong Kong restaurateur who owned part of the upper floors. In 1995, this property interest was sold to Dyer. According to the Land Registry office in Glasgow, ownership of the building through a variety of sales and leases, with the property falling into a "black hole". Other Thomson landmarks such as the Caledonian Road Church and the St Vincent Street Church have also fallen into disrepair, with a cash-strapped council and other grant-making bodies like Historic Scotland unable to fund essential restoration. Don Bennett, deputy director of Development and Regeneration Services at Glasgow City Council, admits that with a reduced #400,000 conservation budget, battles such as that over the Egyptian Halls only make things harder. "There are an awful lot of listed building in Glasgow. We'd like to save every one, but we'll never have the resources to do that. If we step in, it invariably takes money from elsewhere. We just can't afford to invest in every one." Born in Stirlingshire in 1817, Alexander Thomson is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable architects to work in Scotland. His ability to design distinctive yet classical buildings earned him the nickname 'Greek'. As part of the city's architecture and design year, Thomson's work will be celebrated in a new exhibition at The Lighthouse later this month, but the future of his greatest work remains in the balance. Tom Dyer was unavailable for comment. l See also Directory 1 2

Fears over fall of the Egyptians

Iain Wilson Chief Reporter 7May 1998 exclusive another Alexander ''Greek'' Thomson building is under threat despite a #3m restoration scheme planned as part of Glasgow's celebrations of its year as UK City of Architecture, 1999. The Egyptian Halls in Union Street, dubbed the most magnificent of Greek Thomson's commercial designs, are the subject of a compulsory purchase order by the city council. However, it was confirmed yesterday that one of the former owners, whose original stake in the building was less than 50%, has mounted an eleventh-hour legal challenge against the order. The appeal is being supported by Mr Tom Dyer, who claims a ''development interest'' in the property. Mr Dyer, a former racehorse trainer and accountant, was found guilty in March of professional misconduct by the Institute of Chartered Accountants' Disciplinary Committee. Restoration work has now been postponed pending the appeal, which is unlikely to be heard at the Court of Session for at least 10 months, according to the Alexander Thomson Society. It fears that winter will have taken an irreparable toll on the property by then. Society chairman Gavin Stamp said of any delay in the legal process: ''It is most alarming because, when the matter is finally resolved, the necessary grants may have to be renegotiated, if still available. ''In addition, the agreed end user may well have lost patience and moved on. Above all, there is the real risk that in its present state the Egyptian Halls cannot survive another bad winter.'' Mr Stamp also questioned if Mr Dyer and others could raise the #2.3m required to refurbish the building. He added: ''What is certain, however, is that the future of the Egyptian Halls is in jeopardy and may thus make a mockery of Glasgow's Year of Architecture and Design. The major Thomson exhibition planned for 1999 could be marked by the loss of one of the architect's finest creations.'' In April, the city council secured #100,000 towards restoring the Egyptian Halls, and proposals have been agreed with tenants and a potential occupier of the abandoned upper floors. The council is supported by Historic Scotland and other relevant bodies, while the compulsory purchase order was confirmed by the Scottish Secretary. The appeal has thrown a spanner in the works, with time now running out to restore the halls as centrepiece of the Thomson exhibition, let alone as part of year of architecture celebrations. In March, Mr Dyer was fined #5000 and ordered to pay costs of #18,000 after an investigation by the Institute of Chartered Accountants into allegations that he cheated a bankrupt and his creditors out of an estimated #80,000. Mr Dyer, convicted at Dundee Sheriff Court of assaulting a business colleague in 1995, was also suspended from the institute for three years. The punishment took place despite an attempt by Mr Dyer to obtain a Court of Session interdict against the disciplinary proceedings. Last night, a city council spokesman dismissed a potential 10-month gap in hearing the former owner's appeal as speculation. He added: ''Anything which has to be done to avoid further erosion of the property will be done.'' That could involve billing owners for urgent work. Mr Stamp said the Alexander Thomson Society will settle for the building being saved, even if refurbishment cannot be completed in 1999. However, he argued: ''The slowness of the legal process is failing Glasgow, its citizens and its historic architecture.'' Mr Dyer, who is understood to be considering an appeal against the accountants' disciplinary actions, could not be contacted.