Glasgow City Council will seek assurances from prospective buyers over their plans for the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed Martyrs' School after the property was listed for sale this week.

News of the listing of the property, which opened in 1898, took many by surprise this week, with Glasgow's Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society fearing that the move was "another nail in the coffin" for the city’s heritage.

In a statement to the Herald, Glasgow City Council tried to allay concerns over the future of the building and plans for its use, highlighting its protected, 'listed' status, which they say would "ensure the special architectural design of the building is preserved".

With no guide price listed for the building by City Property, the Limited Liability Partnership charged with the development and disposal of Glasgow City Council’s non-operational surplus land and property assets, the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society has offered to work alongside the council to ensure it was not purchased by someone who allows it to fall into disrepair.

Stuart Robertson, director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society since 2001, said he is also concerned by repeated claims from Glasgow City Council over the money they are investing in various Rennie Mackintosh-designed buildings throughout the city.

In a statement, similar to one released to another title in April 2023, a council spokesperson told the Herald: “As a category A listed building, the former Martyrs’ School is protected. Any proposed changes by a buyer would be subject to listed building consent to ensure the special architectural design of the building is preserved.

Martyrs Public SchoolMartyrs Public School (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald)

“Glasgow City Council is absolutely committed to supporting our built heritage in the city, and this includes investing in the buildings of one of our greatest - and certainly most famous - architects and designers, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, during what is a very challenging time for public finances.

“To illustrate support of our built heritage, we are investing £4.5m in Scotland Street School to preserve and protect the fabric and breathe new life into the building; we have also invested £450,000 in two Mackintosh-designed residential dwellings in Balgrayhill and £250,000 was invested on the Lighthouse’s building’s fabric in 2020.

“We are working with a range of organisations to promote the work of Mackintosh and protect his legacy. In the past decade, the council has invested over £278,000,000 in heritage buildings and projects in Glasgow.”

In response, Mr Robertson said: “It’s just the same, the usual politicised comment with the same story going out from the council.

“We’ve still not got a full story of what is going on with the Lighthouse (which has been closed since the Covid-19 Pandemic, with no opening date in sight). Scotland Street School has been handed over to the education department. There’s most likely been a lack of annual repairs over a period of time in a lot of these buildings, it costs a lot more to do repairs if you’re not doing annual maintenance.”

Images of the Martyrs' School taken recently by the Herald have also raised concern amongst society members and led to accusations that the city is happy to live off of Rennie Mackintosh's reputation - without fully committing to the care of his legacy.

Mr Robertson continued: “The big concern is someone buys the building and they don’t have any interest in Mackintosh because we don’t know what they’re doing inside the building.

“We’ve seen it so many times. That’s our concern. There’s not even a conservation plan or a building report going with the sale.

READ MORE 

“It’s already a concern looking at the exterior of Martyrs', there’s a lot of growth outside, there’s stone decay. That’s our greatest fear, these buildings are so valuable within the city.

“Glasgow likes to live off the back of Mackintosh and use Mackintosh to promote the city," he added. "We used to have clinics with Visit Scotland where we told them that the marketing was great but there’s no point marketing buildings if they’re not looked after.

“We do annual work at the Mackintosh Church at Queen’s Cross because if you don’t commit to annual maintenance, the costs are going to be a lot more. It’s an ongoing project since the society took over the building back in 1977 but an example of how a small organisation can look after and bring a building back to life.

“It would be good to work alongside the council and have some sort of control over who is buying Martyrs' and what they are going to do with the building."

When asked if they were willing to work alongside the society and ensure the building would be well looked after, a spokesperson for the council added: “The council will seek to work with any prospective buyer to ensure a sustainable plan is put in place to maintain the building’s condition.”