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Egyptian Halls ‘Petition day' to be held

June 24 2011

Egyptian Halls ‘Petition day' to be held
Derek Souter, the Dundonian developer behind both Union Street Properties and Union Street Investments, is to stage a public ‘petition day’ at Glasgow’s Egyptian Halls on June 25 in order to rally campaigners against a re-development option which could see the “Greek” Thomson edifice demolished.

From 09:00 to 12:30 Souter will be serving tea, coffee and snacks in a bid to drum up support amongst the public to save the Egyptian Halls by doubling the 5,000 existing signatories to an online petition.

Souter wants to spend £20m refurbishing the crumbling warehouse into a four star hotel but has been stymied in this goal by the absence of a needed £5-6m subsidy from the Scottish Government.

It has prompted Souter to outline an alternative vision for the site which would be entirely profit driven by commercial considerations – and entail the structures demolition.

Explaining his rationale behind the event Souter said: “This is in aid of helping to bring the world renowned architectural masterpiece back into Glasgow’s cultural existence in time for the 2014 games.

“The working community here can no longer afford to have its most prized possession being disgraced and wasted because of a lack of public-private unity.”

4 Comments

Auntie Nairn
#1 Posted by Auntie Nairn on 24 Jun 2011 at 13:52 PM
Does this guy listen to himself? Disgraced and wasted, he sure is.
LCP
#2 Posted by LCP on 26 Jun 2011 at 11:44 AM
“The working community here can no longer afford to have its most prized possession being disgraced and wasted because of a lack of public-private unity.”

"So if I can't have it and make money from it (with the help of public funding) no one can! (because I'll demolish it) Wah!"
Alex
#3 Posted by Alex on 27 Jun 2011 at 09:48 AM
chan

cer
Sven
#4 Posted by Sven on 28 Jun 2011 at 15:41 PM
I like the building and it would make a fine hotel. If the Scot Gov gives them £5M towards restoration and rebuild and the developer £20, then we should own the 20% stake in the hotel.

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