Busy Glasgow street to re-open after Sauchiehall Street fire

A busy city street that has been partly shut since a fire in March is to re-open as demolition work finishes.

A cordon was set up on Renfield Street following the fire at Victoria’s Nightclub on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow on 22 March.

The block housing the club was demolished on safety grounds following the blaze.

The scene in Glasgow city centre where firefighters tackled a large blaze on Sauchiehall Street. Picture: Jane Barlow

Glasgow City Council said the operation to clear the rubble from the demolition has now finished and heavy plant machinery has been removed from the site.

Work will begin tomorrow to move the cordon on Renfield Street back to the pedestrian precinct on Sauchiehall Street.

This will allow traffic to move between Renfrew Street and Bath Street once more and pedestrians to use pavements on both sides of Renfield Street.

The pedestrian precinct on Sauchiehall Street will remain closed to the public while utility companies work to reconnect essential services to the affected site via a 40m trench dug along the northern side of the street.

Renfrew Lane will also remain closed for the time being and hoardings are being put up.

The local authority hopes all work will be completed by Friday, 3 August, but it is hoped the cordon can be moved back further before then.

Three months after the Victoria’s fire, the other end of Sauchiehall Street was affected by the blaze that tore through Glasgow School of Art (GSA) on the night of 15 June.

Businesses and 33 homes within the cordon zone around the art school remain evacuated.

A fund of up to £5 million for businesses impacted by the fires at GSA and Victoria’s Nightclub was announced by the Scottish Government today.

All businesses within both the GSA and Victoria’s cordon will receive £20,000 of direct financial support, with other businesses in the area who have been impacted by a fall in footfall eligible for £10,000 of support.