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The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Government needs to call in this disastrous plan for O2 site
It was also clear to me that some members of the committee could not read the drawings provided. Questions asked included if there would be a separation between the public and student entrances? Where would the bins be emptied? Was it stone and what colour was it? Is that arches at the front on Sauchiehall Street? (To which the DRS leader answered yes, when it is not.) Another stated that despite what was proposed not being the most "edifying" design he would support the application. However, the most bizarre was asking for confirmation that the now-demolished ABC portico and other artifacts would be included within the interior of the proposed food hall. In contrast, Councillor Eva Bolander raised the point that 'dereliction of duty' led to the committee being "bounced" into approving the demolition of the ABC and they were now being "bounced" into approving the student accommodation. Accordingly, Cllr Bolander rightly voted against the plans. It is clear that this approval has to be referred to the First Minister and that there should be a proper hearing to give Historic Environment Scotland, The Glasgow School of Art, and particularly the residents of Garnethill, among the many of the 130 who objected, an opportunity to respond to a development which in the short term will be damaging for them and in the long term a disaster for the School of Art and the city. Professor Alan Dunlop FRIAS, Aberfoyle. Read more letters Scots are not so grumpy We read that a report based on annual life satisfaction data found that 13 per cent of Scots live below a "Happiness Poverty Line" ("Scots 'happier than those in England and Wales but still dissatisfied with life'", The Herald, June 19). We are also advised from that report that more than one in 10 Scots are dissatisfied with life in the UK, but people are happier there than those in England and Wales with regard to staying in the UK. I suspect that there will be many who find that comparison with England and Wales difficult to take on board, particularly those who are of the same mind once expressed by PG Wodehouse, writer and humorist : "It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine". Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. Why are folk so lazy? Some years ago my mother's neighbour phoned me to say she was concerned for her safety as my mother, who was in her mid-nineties, was up on a pair of steps cutting her hedge. I was by that time helping her a bit and had obviously not got there quick enough. Recently I passed her house and she would be turning in her grave to see the once-neat hedge sadly left to grow too high and too wide and overhanging and obstructing the pavement. Around our city hedges and trees are often unkempt and a disgrace. Surely some legislation should be passed to ensure owners, landlords and tenants are obliged to keep hedges next to pavements neat and tidy. We need to care more for our dear green city. Where is our pride and respect? Jim Barbour, Glasgow. Literary prophets Now in my ninth decade I decided to re-read the short stories written by Ray Bradbury. When I was in my teens these were plausible fantasies about science fiction and other possibilities. What still gets to me is the way that Bradbury painted with words, making my mind see scenes that were amazing and distressing. I am only a short way into a collection by Bantam Books named "Classic Stories Volume 1" and realise that this writer was a prophet in the truest sense of the word. These stories are from his original collection, The Golden Apples of the Sun, and while they were enjoyable to read as a teenager the two that so far stand out are "I See You Never" about a Mexican immigrant being deported from the USA back to Mexico. This was written in 1947. The other, from 1953, is "The Murderer" and concerns the imposition of mass and social media on society. We are there right now. My other go-to author is Issac Asimov, who predicted hand-held computers, flat-screen televisions and AI among lots of other things that we now have and take for granted. Anyone interested in considering what might happen next should read these authors if they haven't already done so and just enjoy great writing at the very least that stretches the imagination. Ian Gray, Croftamie. Keith Lasley, St Mirren's COO (Image: SNS) A very Scottish coo I can face the day with a smile, imagining St Mirren Football Club's Chief Operating Officer ("Scottish football clubs have to think smarter", Agenda, The Herald, June 20) being asked at party what he does for a living. " I'm a COO". "Upon a hill I saw a coo, if it wis there, it's no there noo" (source uncertain). David Miller, Milngavie.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Joplin City Council gives initial OK to demolish vacant building to make way for housing
An agreement for the city of Joplin to arrange environmental cleanup and demolition of an old hospital building at 2008 S. Sergeant Ave. received first-round approval of the Joplin City Council on Monday night. If final approval of the agreement is given at the council's next meeting, the city would assist with obtaining Home Investment Partnership Program funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Economic Security Corporation to build income-eligible housing on the site. Ryan Peterson, chief executive officer of ESC, said there would be assistance from Habitat for Humanity with the construction of rental duplexes at the location. The city's planning and development director, Troy Bolander, said that the city has taken bids for environmental remediation of the building and site and separate bids for tearing down the building. Those, including legal paperwork, will cost $407,342. The city took bids from a variety of contractors and found it cheaper to hire a separate demolition contractor and a separate asbestos contractor. The city received 10 bids for asbestos removal and the lowest was for $63,900, Bolander said. After the asbestos is removed, the building can be demolished at a cost of $331,300. Remediation and demolition will be paid by the city with federal and state grants. The city was approved for an American Rescue Plan Act grant through the state of $3.5 million. Three projects were proposed to the state for use of ARPA money, which included a program to provide down payments for the purchase of homes by income-qualified applicants. That program has been completed. The city is finishing using part of the ARPA grant for a program to help income-qualified homeowners with needed home repairs. Demolition of the old hospital building was also proposed for the state grant program. There is $1 million set aside for the building's demolition, Bolander said, with half of the cost coming from city ARPA funds and the other half from the state ARPA grant. Peterson said last week that the ESC had acquired the long-vacant former hospital building as a future site for affordable housing. He told the council Monday night he plans to work with Habitat for Humanity to build duplexes that would be affordable rentals for seniors and veterans. Though federal housing grants and other sources would be obtained for construction work of the duplexes, the city will use two grants from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the remediation work and demolition, city officials said. Efforts last August to buy the building from the owner, Randal Kraft, for demolition and the construction of affordable housing failed to win council authorization. Kraft told the Globe in 2024 that he bought the building intending to repair it for some type of commercial use. But the number of obstacles he encountered would have made renovation too costly and difficult. Part of the building was constructed in 1925 with an extension added in the 1950s. One of the issues Kraft said he experienced with the building was ongoing theft and vandalism. He said hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of copper had been stripped out and stolen. The building was being hit by trespassers, vandals and theft, Kraft said. Kraft also said a needed fire suppression system would have to be installed in a renovation and he found that to be cost-prohibitive. Asbestos remediation also would be costly, he learned. Bolander said Monday night he was aware of the concerns expressed by some council members last year when there was not a council majority to approve a former request to buy the building from the owner in order to demolish it. Those concerns included that the cost then to demolish the building was unknown. Not knowing the environmental liability with the building and property was another. After the decision for the city to not go forward with the project at that time, the ESC approached the property owner to see if that agency could obtain the building if there was a demolition option. After a meeting between those two parties, the ESC asked city staff if the city could participate again in an effort to resolve the problem. The city and ESC have since tried to address all of the concerns expressed by council last year. Environmental issues found in recent assessments of the building include mold, asbestos and lead paint, but the building is structurally sound enough for demolition work to be done, Bolander said.
