Glaswegians say what they would like to become of the burned down O2 ABC on Sauchiehall Street

National World - LocalTV

We ask the people of Glasgow what they think the former Glasgow O2 ABC should be developed into following talks of turning it into another music venue or student accommodation.

Transcript

00:00People in Glasgow like music, they like going out to music, you know, and if there's an opportunity to see live music

00:07they will take it.

00:08I was there about 15 years ago, it's a great place.

00:12Over the years before it was burnt down, I went to quite a few gigs in it.

00:17It is a, or it was a vinyl venue, it had quite an atmosphere in it, and it's got a lot of architectural punch.

00:27What would you like to see happen to it?

00:29I'd like it to be turned into a nightclub.

00:31Back the way it originally was.

00:33Anything that would preserve the built environment and the historical environment of Glasgow is great,

00:39but I can't see it happening.

00:40You know, it looks in a pretty perilous state, and it has done for a number of years,

00:45and everything up around that part, Suggy Hall Street, is undergoing some kind of development,

00:50so it feels as though it's inevitable it'll be knocked down.

00:53Keeps the city going, sobering later on in the night, and keeps the city buzzing, you know what I mean?

00:59Well, because culture, Glasgow culture basically is getting lost,

01:02too many things are getting lost in Glasgow already.

01:06I mean, the growth of student accommodation across cities in the UK is something to behold,

01:11since a lot of it was privatised and taken out of the hands of individual institutions.

01:17It's become a bit of a racket for independent developers and investors.

01:22They know they can make money out of it, they keep putting rent up for students,

01:25so if there is need for it, that's good, but not if it's at the expense of young students,

01:31who you're going to see their rent go up and up.

01:33We're losing far too much stuff in Glasgow,

01:36and so I think we should try and save what we've got left.

01:41There's plenty of student accommodation down at Buchanan View and all that,

01:45there's not nearly any.

01:46I do see that there's a need to upshop the student accommodation and all that.

01:50Housing is very important, but technically I'd still like to see it back the way it was originally.

01:57And would you like to see it become a music venue again?

02:00Oh yeah. I mean, it is pretty tricky to get mid-sized music venues.

02:07It's either something on the scale of the Hydro, which is massive,

02:12or maybe some smaller pubs, and there aren't so many venues,

02:17particularly because it's got two rooms in it, it's got that sort of size,

02:20so anything that helps out will be useful.

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