Sanctuary fire

On Friday 8th May a fire was discovered in the sanctuary shortly after 7pm which has left the building seriously damaged.

Since then we have been worshipping in the David Cargill Club directly across the road on Sundays at 10.30am.

Many activities will be subject to alteration...check the What's On? page or Worship page for details


...we'll keep you posted with news of the fire on this page....
What will our new buildng look like?
Click here
Updates and pics...just scroll down
10.5.09....The building has been stabilised and we are in the process of contacting insurers and Church of Scotland's head office. More info as soon as we have it.

Click here for VIDEO footage of the fire.


12.5.09....Agenda Bar at the top of Langside monument have kindly offered their restaurant space for the Brownies to meet as they are currently serving meals from the bar. We are very grateful to them for their help.



17.5.09....The good news is that we have managed to rescue some of the artwork from the church. All of the stained glass has been removed and restoration may be possible to the Gordon Webster windows. The childrens mosaic at the door has also been saved, as has the tapestry of the old Kirk. However much has been lost including the Last Supper and the Resurrection. We are still waiting for a decision regards how much, if any of the building can be retained.



25.5.09....THE FATE OF THE BUILDING... It is now definite that the sanctuary will be demolished. The halls and kitchen will be inspected and a decision made on whether to demolish or retain them. This is an opportunity to rethink our need for a light airy sanctuary and our problems of lack of space (halls) for all the different youth and childrens activities. Pray for positive developments with head office and the architects.



5.6.09....NOW WE KNOW...The surveyors say they have inspected the "good" bit of our church building and although they may want to lay down a new floor they have confirmed that structurally it is okay. So we are looking at a partial (rather than a total) rebuild.

Also our architect has been working on some drawings that we will be looking at in the very near future.



17.6.09....DEMOLITION BEGINS on the remains of the sanctuary. We now have plans to extend the foundations further back in order to build extra halls and extensions. The new sanctuary will be built on the existing foundations of the old one.



4.7.09....THE WALLS come tumbling down, although it has to be done carefully so as not to damage the foundations (see photo below). The interior of the "good bit" of the church corridor kitchen, foyer, office and halls has been stripped out....continued below
The fire starts to take hold
Demolishing the sanctuary walls, brick by brick.
The architects will soon bring developing drawings for the new sanctuary and extensions and if all goes to plan we could be back in the new building by next summer! Watch this space...




24.7.09....CLEANED OUT AND READY TO HEAL is how Lyn our Assistant Minister put it last week. The sanctuary walls have been removed (see below) and the foundations are intact. Our next meeting with the architects is in early August when we will progress the latest drawings and develop ideas.
Stabilizing the building the following day
17.8.09....THERE ARE SOME VERY EXCITING ideas coming from the architects regards the new foyer and sanctuary space. We are considering a balcony at the rear of the sanctuary to help accommodate our expanding congregation. This will be accessible from a new first floor complex which also houses increased office and meeting/quiet spaces. We are also looking at a new glass extension of the foyer down towards the street. We feel this glass extension is vital in helping the church and community to remain connected through a visually open link.



1.9.09....PLANS ARE FIRMING UP FAST and we are looking forward to a formal presentation by the architects on Sunday 20th September after morning worship.



21.9.09....SUCCESS. The architects gave a fantastic presentation at the church on Sunday 20th September and following a question and answer session the congregation were very happy with the proposal.
Click here to see the visuals for the presentation.

It has also been proposed to reinstall, although partially damaged, the substantial remains of Lynsey MacIntosh's creation mosaics.at a location where they can be admired



26.10.09....FOLLOWING THE SUCESS of the architects presentation we have been chasing up planning applications and the likes. Its more of a formality at this stage but has to be done. Repair and building will start on the halls kitchen and corridors in the very near future.
The aftermath in the sanctuary...looking towards the apse
20.12.09....THE BULLDOZERS ARRIVE in early January 2010 (hopefully) which means that we are still on course for being in the building by the summer (tenders are still out and so apparently is the Easter entry date!!!)



1.3.10....PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED Although it was mainly a formality, this now means that it has been officially approved that we are rebuilding as proposed. Look out for those bulldozers (maybe the snow delayed them!!)



4.3.10....WE HAVE A START DATE. Flemming (the contractors) have advised us thet they intend to begin work on site on April 19th and they estimate a duration of 20 weeks to completion which takes us to mid September.

Here's an extract from their PROJECT DISCRIPTION. "Reinstatement of fire damaged church including new build Sanctuary where previously demolished. Timber kit construction, brick outer leaf, new steel columns on new bases with glulam beams.Tiled pitched roof......New external landscaping adding new access ramps. Construction of new garden room entrance vestibule of timberkit/glass/brick construction"

The new sanctuary balcony, first floor offices and meeting rooms are also going ahead as planned.



18.4.10....GOOD NEWS AND BAD.The good news is that exciting plans are developing for the refit of the sanctuary sound and lights. As technology had moved on greatly since sound and lights were first installed we have the opportunity to look at new digtal and LED systems. The bad news is that Flemming (the contractors) have said that there will be a one week delay in getting on site but they intend to start next week. We'll keep you posted.



29.4.10....AT LAST!!!. Builders have moved onto the site. You don't believe it? Well here's the evidence.
P.s. Apologies to Fleming's for all the previous mis-spellings of their name!



14.6.10....WORK IN PROGRESS. The whole of the old foyer area and old back wall of the sanctuary have been removed (see below) and currently the diggers are starting to lay the foundations for the front extension also known as the "garden room". The scaffolding is going up for the building of the new foyer and first floor meeting rooms along with the new back wall of the sanctuary.



19.6.10....UNDERNEATH IT ALL there seems to have been a problem with a section of the existing foundations in the foyer and rear of the sanctuary. Investigations have revealed that the underlying brick supports for the concrete slabs forming the floor need to be rebuilt (as seen in the photographs below). This will put the whole project back by four weeks but investigations are complete and Fleming now expect to crack on with it. So that means we could be looking at the end of October for completion.



6.8.10....NOT A LOT seems to be be happening on site but off site Fleming are busy assembling pre-fab panels, roof trusses and the likes. The foundation repairs have been completed and concrete floor slabs replaced. In the next couple of weeks we should see much of the prefab structure brought down in sections and slotted in to place.

Fusion have been installing parts of the heating system (except high value items for security reasons).

At our meeting with the architects last Tuesday we concentrated on colour schemes for seating and flooring. We were also designing a new lay out for a more functional and user friendly kitchen.

18.8.10....THE WALLS GO TUMBLING UP!!!. Now it looks as if things are moving faster. Already we can see (in the left hand photo above) the beginning of the new sanctuary rear wall structure (grey breezeblock). Openings for the new glass sanctuary doors and for the door into the chapel are clearly visible. The roof support pillars are also now in place with the new balcony joists attached.

The right hand photo is taken from the apse at the front of the sanctuary looking back towards the rear wall.



29.8.10....ITS A HOLD UP and now we've been told not to expect to be in til the start of next year. What was the reason? Something about not being able to put scafolding in the right place until other bits had been built and they can't be built until the other bits of scafolding are in place for bits that haven't been built yet. But we have noticed that the rear office walls and the internal stairwell wall are underway.
9.9.10....OUR FANTASTIC ARCHITECTS have said no way is the completion date being pushed into the new year (as reported above) and have now negotiated a deadline with the builders of the week of December 13th barring any further unavoidable delays.

Progress is of course being made with the internal walls and roof beams seen in the photograph to the left, now in place. They were essentially put up in two days (with a fair bit of overtime!).
16.9.10....THE ROOF IS WATERTIGHT and as long as the rain just comes straight down it should be OK as the windows and doors aren't in place yet!

There are ten new skylights in the roof (five on each side) which, along with increased number of windows in the apse will bring much more light into the sanctuary than before.
22.9.10....IT WAS POURING when we visited today and there were drips coming in everywhere! We needed umbrellas not hard hats. The audio visual engineers were on site too so we were able to discuss in more detail what we hope to install.
As you can see in the photo on the right, looking forwards at the apse, the skylights let in substantially more light than with the previous building. The photo below shows the sanctuary doors and the balcony still under construction.
30.10.10....PRETTY MUCH ON TARGET. Here's an update from the latest meeting with CRPG architects last Thursday. They say the internal works are ahead of programme although the roof work is slightly behind. Estimated completion date for work is still 15th December. There is a site meeting in a couple of weeks so hopefully we'll have more inside photos to post.
15.11.10....WE ARE NOT GOING TO RUSH THIS. ..which is just as well as there is going to be a further delay (structural engineers and also bad weather delaying the roof tiling and preparations for the new entrance/garden room). However this will allow us the opportunity of giving the remaining decisions due consideration without feeling pressurised. As soon as we have a new date we'll let you know but it looks like mid February next year.

The photos below show the sanctury now plastered and being readied for the first coats of paint.
30.11.10....SNOW GO!!!. ..Is it likely that the snow will delay the laying of the concrete foundations for the extended foyer/garden room? At least the construction of the apse has started (seen in the right hand photo).
17.1.11....ROUND AND ROUND we go but finally we get the foundations started for the new foyer and circular garden room. Flemings haven't given us a reviewed completion date but by the end of this month we should expect to see a substantial visual difference. Maybe by then we'll know more. Oh, and a truckload of new sanctuary chairs arrived today so we must be getting close.
24.1.11....WHAT A DIFFERENCE a couple of days make!!! Already the garden room foundations are looking solid, the structural steelwork for the foyer balcony is in place (seen in the left hand photo below). The timber wall panels for the first floor rooms are also being installed (see below right).

We have also been told that mid March is the estimated time for completion.
MORE......click here