Businesses affected by Glasgow School of Art fire set to return within days

Businesses affected by this year's Glasgow School of Art fire are set to be allowed to return to their buildings - four months after the devastating blaze.
More than 450 tonnes of steel scaffolding have been erected around Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building.More than 450 tonnes of steel scaffolding have been erected around Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building.
More than 450 tonnes of steel scaffolding have been erected around Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh Building.

Work to stabilise the west gable end of the world-famous Mackintosh Building is due for completion by the middle of the month.

More than 450 tonnes of steel scaffolding have been erected around the "Mack," which the art school has vowed to rebuild according to Charles Rennie Mackintosh's original 19th century plans.

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A steel cage is also being erected over the former library tower, while a protective screen will be erected on Scott Street to allow public access while work on the building is ongoing.

It is hoped the Centre for Contemporary Arts, which had raised the prospect of having to close for good because of uncertainty over a reopening, and other affected businesses - including Bagel Mania, News 4U and Paint & Mortar - will be able to return from Monday 15 October.

It is hoped that repair work on the Reid Building, on the other side of Renfrew Street, will be completed in time for Christmas, allowing traffic to return to the thoroughfare for the first time since the fire.

Professor Tom Inns, director of the art school, said: "The stabilisation work on the Mackintosh Building is now almost complete.

"Weather permitting, we expect the work on the west gable to be completed by 14 October.

“We’ve been working particularly closely with the CCA to make sure that the damage to its gallery ceiling can be repaired and they can re-commission the building both for the cultural tenants and for public events as soon as possible.

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“This has been a hugely complex project and we could not have completed it this quickly without the commitment of our contractors, who have been working flat out to get us to this stage.

“We know that there are on-going concerns about road access in and around Garnethill.

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"Once the work on the Mack stabilisation is finished our next priority will be taking down the damaged rain screen from the Reid Building so that the council can move to reopen Renfrew Street to single lane traffic before the worst of the winter weather sets in.

“Going forward we have committed to rebuilding the Mack and bringing it back not just as a working art school, but as resource for Garnethill and a creative powerhouse for the city.

"We want our neighbours to play a full part in this process and we look forward to working closely with them."

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