Pearce Institute, Govan

[Timchilli]

Pearce Institute, 840-860 Govan Road

Love this place - it has so many hidden nooks and crannies...



old snooker room


old snooker room again


top floor disused toilet


basement tunnel stockpiled with disused computers


old shooting range


More photos tomorrow...


Tim

[engineer]

nice photos TC
only been in there once, didn't realise it has all those 'hidden' areas

[Timchilli]

The building, designed by Sir Robert Rowan Anderson, was gifted to the people of Govan for use as a community centre by Lady Dinah Pearce in memory of her husband, Sir William Pearce, who died in 1888.

The first departments of the Pearce Institute first opened in 1904. It offered Govanites reading rooms and clubs, a library, a gymnasium, cooking and laundry departments, and a retiring room.

Disused stairway leading to MacLeod Hall stage:



Top of the stairs



Dressing Room 2



The MacLeod Hall provided a grand venue for dances and social gatherings, with its organ, stage and gallery.

[Timchilli]

According to our guide, this section of the MacLeod Hall was replaced after a young boy put his foot through the floor and half of the wooden panel splintered into his leg. He didn't die, but was rushed to hospital.



Some minor renovation is needed



Floors below, the ground doors lead outside. These have long since been fixed shut



Stairs leading to the large basement areas



Where we find another corridor of used computers:



...and a penny farthing:

[HollowHorn]

From the Graveyard:

[Mori]

ET

Are you ready to meet the ghosts of Govan?

PIANOS playing on their own, visions of a ghostly woman and disembodied taps on the shoulder are just a few of the unexplained phenomena at Govan's historic Pearce Institute.
The venue has been at the heart of the community since 1906 and now it might be about to give up its secrets of the past.
Tomorrow night the Pearce will be taken over by a team of ghostbusters searching for answers as to whether the building is haunted.
Glasgow-based psychic medium Tom Elliott, who is involved with Spiritseekers UK, will be leading a seance tonight and with the help of a team of psychics exploring areas of the building where strange activity has been reported.

[HollowHorn]

How young was Cumbo when that was taken?

[Josef]

How young was Cumbo when that was taken? ::):

From the number of missing growth rings, I reckon it must have been taken about 1964.

[emzgeebaby]

i was in this building a couple of weeks ago and was shown round it, its such an interesting place. i never realised it had so many rooms and hall ways!

my mum used to work up stairs in one of the offices and i can remember being in there offten throught my childhood. i remember going into the wee cafe for a cup of tea after walking round the market on saturday afternoons and it was always full of people doing the same.

when i was in a few saturdays ago it seemed so empty. the cafe was closed and it seemed like such a waste. the building was built for a place for the people of govan to go but now it seems like thats been forgotten.

[nodrog]

Some images from the Pearce taken yesterday, as the restored ship was unveiled and returned to the roof; also a glimpse of the interior restoration works in progress.










More here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbarr/sets ... 692319392/

[oddjobby]

Excellent pics nodrog, they're doing well with restoring it

[Josef]

The Friends of George Wylie are trying to establish if the sculpture in the snap below is an original by George or not.

Anyone got any info?

[Doug]

What great pics of the institute. as a govan lad i had been in the place for various things over the years but i dindt know it had the basement areas. One interesting fact is the picture of the old snooker room. a long time ago they must have closed it down because my young brother, who ran our family radio and tv business in govan, bought one of the tables and i think the lights as well. i remember me and another couple of friends carted the table which by then had been dismantled down to our van and my God were we done in by the time we were finished. the slate beds weighed a ton :)

[old jock]

So same Sir William Pearce who the Pearce Lodge was named after in Uni Avenue which uses the brickwork from the old university in the High street, after it moved west.

Interesting have to take a wee look at that place

John