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The gift of Sir Hugh Reid, owner of the Hyde Park Locomotive Works
and a great benefactor to Springburn,
Whitie
's Renaissance design
won a competition in 1899, and was exhibited at the RGIFA
and
published in Academy Architecture in 1900 (Cat. no. 527).
The building was opened on 16th May, 1902.
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The sculpture alludes to the district's industries and to the
building's function as a concert hall. Occupying niches on the
Millarbank Street façade are two Classical maidens with attributes
representing Locomotive Building (holding a model locomotive and wheel)
and Engineering (with a machinery component and anvil).
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High above them, in a huge broken pediment, the building's function
as an entertainment venue is advertised in the high-relief putti and festive and
fruity garlands, and its central shield and tablets inscribed:
Music, Song and Story.
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Prominent amidst the sculpture scheme is the Glasgow Coat of Arms surmounted
by a half-length figure of St Mungo (Glasgow's patron saint) giving his blessing to the
enterprise and holding a bronze crozier. This group is displayed above the main entrance.
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Symbols from the arms have also been extracted and distributed
elsewhere on the building. The tree motif appears on the shield
in the pediment and, appropriately, is used to symbolise The Tree
of Knowledge , whilst the Bird, Bell, Salmon
and an Oak Leaf, illustrating episodes from the saint's miracles and life,
are carved on cartouches on the Keppochill Road façade.
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After years of disuse and decay, and the destruction of its fine
interior, efforts were made in 1999 to highlight the building's plight and its
value to Springburn and the city's architectural heritage. The building was
eventually demolished in December 2012, its statues having been rescued and placed in storage
prior to the destruction of the rest of the building's carved ornament.
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Sources:
- B
, Vol. 76, 17 June, 1899 [competition results], p. 592;
- B
, Vol. 77, 10 October, 1900 [foundation stone laying], p. 348;
- AA
, 1900 (I), pp. 110-111;
- B
, vol. 82, 24 May, 1902 [halls opened], p. 525;
- GAPC
, 20 May, 1902 [Sherriff identified], n.p.;
- H
, 17 June, 1999, News, p. 10;
- Lack
(ed) (1999), pp. 20-1;
- The Glaswegian [Springing life back into Springburn], 25 January, 2001, p. 5;
- VM
: C1800;
-
Williamson et al.
;
- H
, End of road for historic building, 28 December, 2012, p. 11;
See also:
Useful links to other sites:
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