BRIGHT FUTURE IN VIEW?
A new tenant could soon move into the Glasite Meeting House.
The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust – owners of the Category A-listed former house of worship on Barony Street – have come forward with proposals to accommodate the Ingleby Gallery (see Ref. 17/01790/LBC).
Ingleby’s arrival is conditional, in their own nicely understated phrase, upon ‘one or two small changes in order to create a space without interruptive architectural restrictions’.
In the Main Hall, these would be:
- removal of the pulpit into safe storage;
- removal into safe storage of the box pews; two to be retained on north wall;
- installation of new independent internal wall lining on 4 sides;
- new underfloor heating within floor void;
- relocation of chandelier to stair;
- raising of internal door lintel heights for improved access;
- installation of lighting tracks (also in first-floor McWilliam Room);
- repositioning of clocks to entrance hall and main office.
Few if any changes are envisaged for the first floor and basement.
In some ways – notably the retention of the original ‘blind’ windows – the new proposals are much less intrusive than those consented in February over the objections of well-known heritage bodies (Ref. 16/05648/FUL; Breaking news, 22.11.16).
However, if approved, some elements – clocks, pews, pulpit – would still be disturbed, and most of the mirthless murky interior – which in context makes the place interesting and significant – would be invisible behind plain wall-linings.
Thus, paradoxically, whilst nothing of the Hall would permanently be lost, comparatively little of it would effectively be retained.
What we face is replacing the po-faced, windowless austerity of 19th-century religious practice with the similarly introspective linear-hang austerity of 21st-century ‘serious contemporary art space’. Both practices are short on belly-laughs and entail considerable acts of faith.
All things considered, after the Glasite’s 40 years of underuse, many people would welcome the arrival – possibly early next year – of a widely acclaimed, forward-looking cultural force to be reckoned with. The gallery proposal has its own intrinsic merits, but might well also act as a catalyst for other Broughton businesses and potential venues.
On the other hand, some will reflect that the Glasite has now served for over 180 years as ‘a place where people gather, and meet’ … and yet there’s still no sign of a comfy seat.
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