Safety fears seal demolition fate of 'Greek' Thomson building

THE fate of one of Alexander "Greek" Thomson’s most important buildings was sealed yesterday after the council ordered the demolition of his former city-centre offices amid safety fears.

The A-listed building on the corner of West Regent Street and Wellington Street, which Thomson remodelled in 1872, was at the centre of a dispute over a public inquiry into planning permission for its demolition.

In 2000, a judge ruled that ministers had breached human rights legislation by ordering the inquiry.

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Lord Macfadyen said the inquiry process could not be impartial because Historic Scotland, a Scottish Executive agency, had prompted the process by objecting to the plans. The agency must be consulted before the demolition of any listed building.

Demolition experts were on site yesterday, checking the building after a member of the public reported that the building may be unsafe.

It is understood that the block, which is already in a dilapidated state, is collapsing.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council confirmed that the building would be demolished. She added: "We got a call from a member of the public to say that there was a problem with the building.

"We went out and examined it and found that it had moved. We instantly got in touch with the owners and told them it required to be demolished immediately."

A spokeswoman for the Glasgow Building Preservation Trust expressed dismay that the building would now be lost to future generations.

Because of the precarious nature of the work, the building will have to be demolished brick by brick, forcing the closure of West Regent Street and Wellington Street to traffic for up to eight weeks.

One contractor said: "It’s going to be a difficult job. The building is splitting from the inside, which makes it far from easy to demolish. It’s a shame because you can see it was once quite a grand building."

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Five months ago, the council instructed the owners to either make the building safe or demolish it.

No-one from the owner’s agents, the surveyor Ross Moore Ltd, was available for comment last night.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police confirmed that traffic diversions had been put in place around the affected site.

Born in 1817, Thomson was given his "Greek" nickname in homage to the classical influence on his style. For years, his work was overshadowed by the buildings designed by his contemporary Charles Rennie Mackintosh, although a resurgence in interest in his work since 1999 has resulted in many threatened Thomson buildings being saved.

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