£1.2m grant for Maryhill Burgh Halls plan

james73 · £1.2m grant for Maryhill Burgh Halls plan

AN ambitious community plan to raise £9 million to restore a historic Glasgow
building has taken a major step forward.

The Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust has been awarded £1.2 million in European
grants taking the mammoth fundraising project to the halfway mark.

Once restored, the B-listed Edwardian building will be a community events
and concert space, as well as a nursery, cafe and recording studio.

Around £4.5 million in funding has now been secured and work is on course
to begin in September with an expected completion date of early 2011.

Campaigners have led a long campaign for the burgh halls, which are
recognised on Historic Scotland's buildings-at-risk register, to be brought
back into use.

The building, which opened in 1878, has slowly been wound down over
the past 20 years and has been closed for the past eight years.

The council owns the hall but will sell it to Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust and
give them back the money in the form of a grant. Part of the renovation
will involve the restoration of 20 stained-glass panels which chart Maryhill's
economic history.

Created by Stephen Adams in the late 19th century, they document the
lives of workers including a canal boatman, linen bleachers, a gas worker
and a glassblower and are currently in storage in the Burrell Collection.

James H