Rennie Mackintosh building to be turned into Catholic museum

A former school designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh is set to be sold by Glasgow City Council and turned into a Scottish Catholic museum.

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is expected to take over the old Martyrs' School on Parson Street in Townhead if a £250,000 deal is backed by councillors this week.

It is planning to invest £1.75m in the 19th Century A-listed property to create a "public museum of Scottish Catholic archives to house artefacts and artworks", according to a council report.

Although it is not the highest bid, council officials have recommended it for approval "given the overall merits".

They said the unconditional offer of £250,000 had the "benefit of certainty, being a cash offer and not being subject to any suspensive conditions".

Two other bids met the same criteria but were for commercial letting of workshop space, with some public exhibition space, and their occupation was "not guaranteed".

Ruairi Kelly, the council's convener for housing and development, said the plan was "great news for an important piece of Glasgow's built heritage".

"Without marketing this building, we would not have found such a positive outcome that not only secures investment but opens it to the public," he said in a social media post.

The three-storey school building was designed for the School Board of Glasgow by Charles Rennie Mackintosh while he was an assistant at architectural firm Honeyman and Keppie and was completed in 1898.

It is of "considerable architectural and cultural significance, being one of the earlier buildings attributed to Mackintosh", the council report added.

Used as a school and college until the early 1970s, the building has since been an arts centre and council offices.

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland's plan for the property also includes some office space, and "proposes to link the subject to their existing ownership on the opposite side of the street" (St Mungo's RC Church).

Marketing of the building began in October last year after it had been sitting empty for "a considerable time". Five compliant bids were received by the closing date in March this year.

The council report added: "It is proposed the subject will undergo a sensitive restoration and will have the prospect of a meaningful future as part of its local community."

Reporting by Local Democracy journalist Drew Sandelands.