Investigation after lump of masonry falls from King's

Published on Saturday 24 May 2008 10:57

AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a chunk of masonry fell from the King's Theatre, narrowly missing an elderly pedestrian.

Police closed off the road and an urgent safety check was ordered at the 102-year-old building following the incident yesterday.

It is the latest in a series of masonry falls from the Capital's historic buildings in recent years and today prompted fresh demands for more money to be found for the long-awaited refurbishment of the theatre.

Eyewitnesses told how the heavy piece of red standstone, about eight inches square, fell around 20

metres, smashing on to the pavement on Tarvit Street.

David Fraser, owner of the Tarvit Launderette opposite, said: "An elderly man had just left the shop and was about to cross the road when it happened.

"He got a big fright. If he'd been a few metres further across, it would've hit him. It was a very near miss.

"It smashed on the pavement, then bounced. The force must have put it into pieces."

Police were called to close off Tarvit Street at around 9.30am yesterday as city council property officers started carrying out an assessment of the rest of the stonework

The building, which is in line for a 20 million refurbishment to bring it up to modern standards, is owned by the council, and run by the Festival City Theatres Trust. So far only 6 million has been raised for the project.

A city council spokeswoman said the authority's property officers were called to assess the situation. "A piece of stonework fell from a high level from the side of the King's Theatre onto Tarvit Street on Friday," she confirmed, adding that council property officers were called to assess the situation.

Darrell Williams, head of marketing at the theatre trust, said: "A full check will be completed and remedial plans put into action.

"Unless advised otherwise, business continues as normal with Telford College performing a sell-out dance show on Saturday night." John Saunderson, chairman of the Tollcross Traders Association, is part of the campaign to save the King's Theatre. He said the incident highlighted the urgency for repairs to be carried out.

He said: "This just sums it up really. I hope it will jolt everyone involved to get on with it and release more funds to get on with it.

"As a trader, I'm always getting told by the council to do all sorts of health and safety checks, including checking stonework.

"I feel like telling them to get their own house in order first. It's really sad that it's got to this stage."

The issue of falling masonry has been in the headlines ever since an Australian waitress was killed at Ryan's Bar, in the West End, in 2000.

That sparked a city-wide investigation into the state of properties.

Early last year, Canonmills residents escaped injury after tonnes of sandstone crashed to the ground outside their flats and last May, a large chunk of masonry fell from a tower at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly Hall.

Meadows and Morningside councillor Paul Godzik said he was concerned there could be a need for further repairs to the building and would raise the matter in the next full council meeting.

He said: "I'm very concerned about the situation, and thankful that no-one has been hurt. However, what is clear is that urgent repairs are needed to ensure that there are no similar incidents in the future.

"There is obviously money set aside to upgrade the theatre, but we have to assess what kind of state of repair the outside of the building is in."