The future of the building needs to be agreed upon by the City Council and the owners, says Lesley Mitchell, who launched the petition to save the O2 ABC from being demolished.
Last June saw another devastating fire rip through the historic Glasgow School of Art, leaving the building barely salvageable due to the extensive structural damage. Its neighbouring concert venue and nightclub O2 ABC was also affected and plans to demolish instead of rebuilding the hugely popular site have been submitted to the Council by one of the landlords.
The petition to save the building from being bulldozed, which was launched last week, reached 1500 signatures within 24 hours. Lesley expressed her gratitude for the immense support shown by the community and the local press: “It means a lot to see all my friends signing and sharing the petition and encouraging their friends to do the same.”
Lesley hopes the petition will have a positive impact: “What I would like to happen next is that the Council and the owners of the building come to an agreement about the future of the building.
“If it can be saved then it should be and if possible, it should be kept as a popular music venue, as Sauchiehall Street needs this more than more flats or retail units which will probably lie empty.”
Others expressed similar concerns, commenting on the venue’s architecture and sentimental value. Robert Ross, who signed the petition said: “Iconic music venues are few and far between. This is one of Glasgow’s best.”
Allan Sherry, Principal for Glasgow Kelvin College, took to Twitter to call for the building to be saved and encouraged people to sign the petition by stressing the importance of “valuable work experience opportunities” the O2 ABC has been providing for students.
“We hope that all our hard work will not be in vain,” Lesley added.
In the meantime, events at the O2 ABC are being moved to other local venues or rescheduled.
You can find the petition here.
Feature Image Credit- Lesley Mitchell
