Anger after historic Glasgow city centre cast-ironworks destroyed during demolition

There has been anger after the historic underground toilets on St Vincent Place in Glasgow city centre were reportedly damaged during work to dismantle them.

Work has now been stopped on the site, but one councillor described his fury in a post on social media he said the instruction was to “retain these, not smash to pieces”.

Cllr Kelly said that the council will now work with Glasgow City Heritage Trust to find a contractor to repair the work so that they can be reused elsewhere in the city.

In a further comment, he said: “After members of the public alerted us to the damage yesterday evening I went to the site this morning and instructed works to stop. I am assured that the rest will be removed without further damage and all of it collected and placed in storage as was originally planned. We will now work with Glasgow City Heritage Trust to find a contractor who can repair the ironworks so they can be reused in another part of the city.”

The screens were once part of now closed Glasgow Cross Station. MSP for Glasgow Paul Sweeney called for the cast iron screens to be restored in Scotland in order to help sustain the trade.

In a tweet, he said: “Depressing to see the Caledonian Railway cast iron screens from the old Glasgow Cross Station damaged in this botched demolition. There is enough left to restore them. With one architectural iron foundry left in Scotland, it could help to sustain the trade.”

In June, a council report said that there was “strong market interest to develop the existing public toilet site at St Vincent Place for an alternative use”. It was understood that officials were exploring how the council’s public toilet providers, Healthmatic Ltd, would exit the location by March 2027 so that future development of the site could take place.