Humza Yousaf has said the Scottish Government will not interfere in the restoration of the Glasgow School of Art's fire-ravaged Mackintosh building.
The First Minister was quizzed on the future of the world-renowned Mack - which was destroyed in a 2018 blaze just four years after a destructive first fire in 2014 - by Labour MSP Paul Sweeney.
Mr Sweeney referenced The Herald's week-long investigation into the two art school fires this week as he asked Mr Yousaf if the Scottish Government would look to set up an independent body to oversee the restoration of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous building.
The First Minister, speaking at the weekly First Minister's Questions, said: "The Scottish Government does recognise the cultural and historical significance of the Mackintosh building as world renowned in status and the importance of the Mack to the School of Art, to the city of Glasgow and indeed to Scotland as a whole.
'Daft' new fire service rules threaten more buildings in Scotland
Reinstating the Mackintosh building will bring renewed interest in the architect
"We have welcomed the Glasgow School of Art's plan for the faithful reinstatement of the Mackintosh building.
"The Mackintosh building is owned by the Glasgow School of Art who have responsibility for their own strategic and operational decision making."
Restoration work reached a milestone in June last year when a protective white wrap and temporary roof structure were installed, with experts suggesting it would take two years for the building to dry while other extensive work was undertaken.
In Holyrood, Mr Sweeney urged the Scottish Government to intervene to speed up the restoration, repeating calls he made earlier this week in The Herald for Scots politicians to protect the Mack in the way the French Government stepped in to help restore the Notre Dame Cathedral following a fire in 2019.
Repairs on the Paris landmark are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Mr Yousaf said he does not think "commandeering" the project is necessary.
The First Minister welcomed Glasgow School of Art's plan for a "faithful reinstatement" of the "critical" cultural building.
However, Glasgow MSP Mr Sweeney said: "The shell of a building has now been left languishing for 10 years after the devastating second fire of June 2018.
"Like the French president did with Notre Dame, will the First Minister now personally intervene to expedite the restoration of the Glasgow School of Art by following international best practice and establish a new statutory delivery authority with specific responsibility for developing and delivering the restoration project in concert with the Glasgow School of Art by 2030?"
The First Minister replied: "I don't think the Scottish Government commandeering that building is the right approach."
He said the GSA expects funding to come from fire insurance proceeds, donations and capital receipts and reserves.
"They haven't made a request to Government at this stage but of course we will look to ensure that we can support the Glasgow School of Art in the restoration of the Mack because it is of critical importance."
The First Minister added that the Scottish Government would continue to "reach out" to the art school to see what, if any, assistance was required.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel