Langside Halls could be saved by community takeover plans
Langside Halls, which was added to the Buildings At Risk Register as it didn’t have a plan for occupancy, has been shut since 2017 for repairs.
Closed Langside Halls could be saved as a councillor reveals that a community takeover plan is under way.
SNP Councillor Ruairi Kelly said there will be hopefully be a “positive outcome,” which will see the A-listed building reopen and potentially upgraded. It comes as he told councillors that £250 million has been spent over the last decade on the wider city’s heritage buildings and assets.
Langside Halls, which was added to the Buildings At Risk Register as it didn’t have a plan for occupancy, has been shut since 2017 for repairs.
Councillor Kelly, convener for housing and development, said work has been taken place on an “expression of interest in the People Make Glasgow programme” – which enables communities to run venues.
He told a full council meeting that he “expects to have information” for councillors very soon and there will hopefully be a “positive outcome that not only reopens it to the public but entails community ownership and management and also secures the much needed funding required” to upgrade facilities.
He said the plan would “ensure that it is used as a long term asset in the community.”
It is understood Glasgow Life has been working with Langside Halls Trust and the council to bring the Shawlands building back into use.
The update on the situation was given at full council last week after Scottish Greens councillor Holly Bruce asked what is happening to ensure Langside Halls is kept under council or community ownership.
Commenting on wider efforts to protect Glasgow’s historic architecture for the entire city councillor Kelly said the buildings can be a “burden” if not looked after.
He said: “To walk through Glasgow on any given day is to be reminded of what an incredible cultural asset our built heritage is but also what a burden it can become if not responsibly handled. Glaswegians know all to well how our collective stewardship of these privileged assets has not always met their expectations.”
He continued: “That is the principal reason that my colleague and predecessor the late councillor McLean set up the Built Heritage Commission, which I have been glad to attend under Councillor Ghani’s co chairship.
“While we cannot shirk from the mistakes that have been made in the past it is also important that people who live here know what we are doing with some of the city’s most beloved buildings. The bottom line is this council has spent over a quarter of a billion pounds on our heritage assets over the last decade.”
He was responding to a question from SNP councillor Zen Ghani on how the council is protecting the city’s built heritage.
He said the money is spent on maintenance, preservation, refurbishment and redevelopment opportunities and promotion of community use among other work.
He said the council manages 97 operational heritage properties including the city chambers and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
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