by Gerry Braiden, The Herald
The dilapidated former offices of one of the Clyde's great
shipbuilding firms has secured almost £500,000 to allow its
conversion to a business centre.
It is hoped the A-listed red sandstone former Fairfield Company
shipyard office building on the south bank of the Clyde will become
one of the landmarks in the proposed Govan Conservation Area after
being awarded a share of more than £1.6m from Historic
Scotland.
The Fairfield offices are on the Buildings at Risk register but
Govan Workspace Ltd intends to bring economic activity and jobs
back to this site by creating office space and a heritage centre to
celebrate Govan's role in world shipbuilding.
The project will also provide training opportunities in lime
work, glazier work, carpentry and other traditional skills.
A former contender in the BBC's Restoration series, the A-listed
Greenlaw Town Hall in Berwickshire has been promised £500,000 to
reuse the neo-classical building as offices.
Historic Scotland has distributed £150m from the Building Repair
Grant Scheme in the past 15 years.
Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: "Govan's shipbuilding past
is firmly tied to Scotland's development as an industrial nation
and identity. I am delighted the office building is to be developed
into a centre for business that will bring investment to the
area."
Other successful schemes include £260,500 for Aberdeen's East
Kirk, the original church of which dates back to 1151; Mellerstein
House in Gordon, Berwickshire, which secured £100,000; Fountain
Gardens in Paisley, which gets almost £170,000 to restore its
Burns's statue, railings and gates and £125,000 will go to the Red
Tower in Helensburgh.
Reproduced with the permission of The Herald(Glasgow) ©
Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.