A DAMNING submission to the Scottish Parliament by businesses and residents affected by the devastating Glasgow School of Art fire accuses the school of a “cavalier” approach to safety - and demands that any new Mackintosh Building is taken out its hands
The document written for the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament by the businesses and the displaced residents group of Garnethill, says the Mackintosh Building was a “timebomb with the power to devastate a community.”
The Mackintosh Building, the masterpiece of Scottish artist and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is currently in ruins after being destroyed by its second fire in four years, the first in 2014.
The cause of the June conflagration, being probed by police and fire services, is unknown.
READ MORE: Muriel Gray: The Mack will be rebuilt
The submission to the committee, which is to hear further evidence on the fire after an initial hearing, is a series of strongly worded criticisms of the GSA, its board, and how it has interacted with local residents and firms.
The submission notes that neither the director of the GSA, Professor Tom Inns, or its chair, Muriel Gray, have attended any community meetings since the June fire in person.
It says: “Many have described the Mack as a ‘living, breathing’ building according it with all kinds of qualities which romanticise and anthropomorphise it.
“By contrast, for many of those who live and work in its lee, it’s simply another building which unknown to us was a timebomb with the power to devastate a community.
“Some are undoubtedly conflicted. They love the building, its history and its origins but it also represents a distant, selfish, inward-looking and thoughtless neighbour.”
READ MORE: GSA board adamant The Mack will be rebuilt
It adds that the building “has immense power to impact its neighbours as we now know and the importance of the role of the management of the building is central to where we find ourselves today.”
The submission says that the building was run by the GSA with a “culture of carelessness”, “where freedom of artistic expression trumped the rules and by extension safety.”
It adds:”Instead of being drawn up sharply by its boot strings [after the first fire], the Board appeared to have foolishly relied on the hope that lightning would not strike twice. It did.”
The submission concludes that residents and businesses have found their experiences since the fire “traumatic in the extreme, with a number having been obliged to seek counselling for PTSD” and some have already planned to leave the area.
READ MORE: 'Relieve the GSA of responsibility for The Mack'
It says: “This exodus is a very public vote of ‘no confidence’ in the current Board.
“Whether the Mack is taken into public ownership, placed in the control of a body such as the Mackintosh Society or some new purpose - created body, the community do not trust the safety of their lives and livelihoods to the Glasgow School of Art’s current Board.
“They are simply not fit for purpose.”
It also accuses the GSA of a “cavalier attitude seems to have been pervasive and systemic. “The management were insouciant before and after the [20]14 fire in many respects...indeed it has already been stated before this Committee that prior to the 2014 fire GSoA staff knew the risk to the students and themselves and apparently ‘joked’ about it amongst themselves.”
Last night, Professor Tom Inns said the school had been “ acutely aware” of the impact that the fire in the Mackintosh Building would have on residents and businesses around The Glasgow School of Art.
It appointed one of its directors, Alan Horn, to be a community liaison.
Professor Inns said: “Alan has attended meetings of both the Sauchiehall Street Traders Asscociation and the Displaced Residents Group and continues to be a point of contact both for them and for members of the community.
“Like everyone we are keen to find out more about the cause of the fire, which is the subject of an official investigation by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.”
READ MORE: Roger Billcliffe on the future of the Mackintosh Building
He added: “Like everyone we are keen to find out more about the cause of the fire, which is the subject of an official investigation by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
"As we await the findings of their investigation it is important to reiterate that all the companies tendering for the main contract for the restoration of the Mackintosh Building were required to submit a detailed fire prevention strategy that addressed the very specific needs of the site.
"Kier Construction (Scotland) Ltd, who were in control of the site on 15 June, had such a plan in place.
"We have stated that The Glasgow School of Art will rebuild the Mack and bring it back not just as a working art school, but as resource for Garnethill and a creative powerhouse for the city as it has been for over 100 years.
"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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