The Hidden Glasgow Forums

Can anyone tell me who is undertaking the conversion of the old cinema at Bridgeton Cross. I know an artists impression was posted a while back but i would like to find out more as i am covering the building as part of a dissertation.

………..if you go next door to Millers flooring, they, I’m sure will be able to point you in the right direction

-Fossil-

johnnyanglia wrote:Can anyone tell me who is undertaking the conversion of the old cinema at Bridgeton Cross. I know an artists impression was posted a while back but i would like to find out more as i am covering the building as part of a dissertation.

Local neds and jaikies are handling the Phase 1 conversion into a doss house and public toilet pretty well.

I pity the poor workmen who have to clear that place!



Chris...

johnnyanglia wrote:Can anyone tell me who is undertaking the conversion of the old cinema at Bridgeton Cross. I know an artists impression was posted a while back but i would like to find out more as i am covering the building as part of a dissertation.

The planning permission report has contact details for the developers - you should be able to get it from the council website here:
http://www.glasgowcitycouncil.co.uk/com ... search.asp

by searching for Olympia. I think it was sometime during 2003 the application was granted. I have a copy of it somewhere at home & can dig it out if you can't find it easily.

If you find out anything of interest - let me know!

If you've not seen them already, there is coverage of the history of the building in two books -
Scotland's Splendid Theatres by Bruce Peter, and 100 Years of Glasgow's Glorious Cinemas, also by Bruce.

In the meantime, why not enjoy the pleasant selection of photos here:

http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/~gbarr/cinema ... index.html
http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/~gbarr/cinema ... ympia.html



Gordon

Thanks to everyone that replied to my query. Yes i had noticed to my dismay that some locals had carried out ad hoc alterations. I have been trying to track down the Bruce Peter theatre book(I have the cinema one). Ibelieve it is now out of print however. Unfortunately the council site is giving me a "Page cannot be displayed message" but i will keep trying. Just out of interest Nodrog i have the 1921 proposed plans for the Govanhill picture house and the 1925 realised plans. I will have to let you see them at some point.

I have a spare copy of the Bruce Peter Theatres book that is looking for a good home if you're interested...

In fact, how about a swap for copies of those plans of the Govanhill you have?

The council site does indeed appear to be broken at the moment; I'll try and dig out my copy of the report and send you the details....

Gordon

Aha, knew I had a copy somewhere.

I've uploaded it to:


http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/~gbarr/cinema ... cation.pdf

Hope it is of some use!

Cheers,
Gordon

Thanks for the speedy reply. Regarding the Bruce Peter you have a deal !. Can you send me your e mail address and i will give you my phone number, Cheers Johnny.

The Olympia has been taken over by Clydegateway and part of it is to be some type of art gallery.. the opening day for the Cross is monday the 23rd and the bell inside the Umberella Ive been told by a very good source will ring on the day and every day after...

Yeah, Page/Park architects are currently working on plans for the building for Clyde Gateway, but it's essentially trashed inside, so would be a facade retention job.

Various community uses are being proposed, including sports facilities as a 2014 legacy.

The RCAHMS were recently inside and undertook a photographic survey of the fire- and water-damaged interior. You can see the pics here:

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/16 ... a+theatre/

Thanks for the link Gap. A magnificent building.

Public Meeting on Wed 15th Sept at the Bridgeton Community Learning Campus in Dale Street, 7pm. Clyde Gateway will reveal their plans for the building and are looking for views on the proposals from anyone interested.

PROPOSALS FOR OLYMPIA GET SEAL OF APPROVAL



The public meeting was chaired by George Redmond, the local councillor for the Bridgeton area and Board Member of Clyde Gateway. He said "The Olympia is a hugely important symbol of Bridgeton’s rich heritage and it has been very sad to watch it fall into decline in recent years. Everyone was delighted when Clyde Gateway bought the building last year and said it was making it a priority to bring it back into public use."...Continues @ Clyde Gateway

I was at the meeting, and whilst folk were happy to see the building brought into use again, there seemed to be two aspects of concern to residents.

First up was that these proposals had already been decided - there seemed to have been little in the way of consultation, and Cllr Redmond tried to counteract this criticism by saying that he'd been telling folk for months about them. Nonetheless, I got the impression that "the community" had felt a bit put out by having had little say in the final outcome, regardless of how worthy the final ideas were.

Secondly, the current library is in a pretty handsome B-listed building of a similar vintage to the Olympia, and there was concern that these proposals would simply rescue one derelict B-listed building whilst creating another. Assurances were given that proposals for the old library would be looked at in due course, but nothing concrete was evidently in the pipeline for the time being.

I should add that the proposals were for a library at the ground floor, the new homes for Scottish amateur boxing and wrestling bodies at the first floor (which would be used for Commonwealth training in 2014 too) and office space above. The build would essentially be a facade retention job, which is fair enough, since even the most hard-line of us cinema preservation geeks would be hard-pressed to say there's much left worth saving in the old auditorium.

I guess on that score, though, we were a wee bit disappointed that even a small auditorium wasn't included in the plans for cinema or simple stage use, since I'm not sure that such a thing exists in Bridgeton at the moment.

PS The meeting was held in the Learning Campus building in Dale Street - what an awful cheap building, can't have been more than a few years old but the low-quality wooden floor looked like domestic laminate - under such heavy use, it had certainly worn as if it was, and don't get me started on the exposed ducting!

We don't get as many classic HG exposés as we used to. Ta, G.