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George Square

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:00 pm
by purplegrum
I was sitting in George Square tonight and I noticed that the huge billboard that used to be there is down and the building behind is now exposed. Does anybody know what this building was or what plans there are for it's future?

Image

Makes George Sq seem bigger without that imposing advert looking down on you!

PurpleG.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:00 pm
by DMcNay
Used to be the Post Office.

Converting it to flats?

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:04 pm
by red_kola
dr_lightning wrote:Used to be the Post Office.

Converting it to flats?


Was going to be a new G1 Hotel. Stephan didn't get planning permission for his basement pool (probably cos of the tunnels :wink: ) so the hotel would have been unable to get 5 star status. Toys were then thrown out of the pram.

Not sure what the latest is...

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:09 pm
by dazza
red_kola wrote:Toys were then thrown out of the pram.


Yep, that sounds like Stephan King alright.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:09 pm
by purplegrum
It's a shame to see it all closed up like that when all the other buildings in the square are in use, nice looking building too.

I noticed an inscription at the top of the building which read:

"VICTORIA REGINA"
"MDCCCLXXVIII"

Have a picture of this inscription I can post if anybody wishes.

PurpleG.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:20 pm
by red_kola
Later info here:

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5017338.html

Council offices? What a waste.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 9:36 pm
by Fossil
I’m sure that post office held the record for the longest counter in Europe

-Fossil-

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 10:45 pm
by stevoooo
I remember ready somewhere that they we making an absolute packet with the billboard that they weren't too particularly bothered that the building project was getting held back.

PostPosted: Mon May 31, 2004 11:03 pm
by cumbo
Did Mr king not buy the building for £1 ? I'm sure he made a tidy profit on the sale of the flats :twisted:

George Square

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:04 pm
by Closet Classicist
This was announced a while back but its starting shortly as outlined in this article in today's Evening Times :

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5034598.html

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong but why is it that our paternalistic cooncil does not feel the need to apply their own procedures to themselves? Is George Square not part of the city centre outstanding conservation area and does it not contain, as well as being surrounded by, both 'A' and 'B' listed structures? If so why do they not have to apply for planning permission? Everybody else does after all! And why have we only had a verbal description of what they are up to and not illustrations so that we can judge it for ourselves? They say they don't want to make the same mistakes as last time but all they are offering is yet more tarmac (just darker) and a cafe as a sweetener. Brilliant! Looks suspiciously like another on the cheap solution. Places like Manchester, which have just spent a fortune upgrading their public spaces and had the guts to hold design competitions in order to commission the best for their city, must be laughing at our amateurness... Catch a grip GCC

Does anyone else agree with me?

CC

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:18 pm
by montrose
whats all this outdoor cafe nonsense ....have you ever sat on a hill and watched the layer of pollution hovering above glasgow ...... well i can only imagine that george sq being the so called heart of the city is the worst for it...... lead poisoning with your coffee sir mmmmmm

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:27 pm
by Apollo
I wouldn't disagree with you.

I think they decided to make all their changes last time round and destroy the original appearance of the Square drastically as they knew they wouldn't get a second chance to do anything outrageous next time.

I still think it's a daft place to attract crowds to, its automatically limited to the number it can accomodate. Glasgow Green was good enough in the past, if they'd re-organised that for a better event space in the works they've carried out recently, that might have been seen as foresight.

It's the same daft mentality that claims to be preserving Locj Lomond by declaring it a National Park. Instead of preserving, I see more new building, plans for houses on the lochside, and discussion about using the Loch as a base for seaplanes. Tom Weir criticised the idea 30/40 years ago. He might have been right.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 8:31 pm
by Schiehallion
What does it matter anyway? You can't get walking across George Square these days anyway. It's no longer for the people. There seems to be a continual process of putting up and taking down crush barriers nowadays. There's always some minority crap going on in a marquee or on a stage.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:44 pm
by PlasticDel
Schiehallion wrote:What does it matter anyway? You can't get walking across George Square these days anyway. It's no longer for the people. There seems to be a continual process of putting up and taking down crush barriers nowadays. There's always some minority crap going on in a marquee or on a stage.


I hear that! Didn't they just put out all the benches last week and then take them all away again within like TWO days? Round about the time they were taking the decorations down.
What's the deal with that!

An' it's usually pishy things they have on in the square too. An' the red stuff is gonna get replaced with... RED STUFF! :? No wonder it's cracked they'er always driving some bloody tent pegs or something into it.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 12:25 pm
by JayKay
Interesting to see that the "moveable bollards that can be lowered" are included in the plan. The same kind, probaly, that they put in Edinburgh apparently for security reasons

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid ... =897782004

but which subsequently have caused problems, not least to a taxi driver who was knocked unconscious as when a bollard rose beneath his taxi, the same happening to a second vehicle a few days later. Legal action is likely.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index ... 1457652004