THE owner of the Clutha hopes to create a memorial garden next to the Clyde in tribute to the 10 people who lost their lives.

 

Alan Crossan said he wanted to discuss ideas for a lasting memorial near the bar where a Police Scotland helicopter crashed through the roof on November 29, 2013.

He spoke out as work began to clear the bar. Mr Crossan has submitted a planning application and aims to reopen the Clutha and the adjoining Victoria Bar by May.

As the Evening Times has reported, the bar has remained virtually untouched since the tragic helicopter crash.

Inside the bar, unfinished drinks lay on tables, empty packets of nuts were buried in rubble and scattered flyers were left on the floor.

Mr Crossan and his team began clearing the area and tidying it up yesterday.

He said removing items from the disaster site was a "strange thing to be doing" and said he hoped it would provide the families with some closure.

He said: "It must be hard for the families of the victims.

"I hope, although everyone is different, that it might help them and provide closure. The work is being done now and things are happening.

"We are doing what we can while we wait for the planning application to be heard.

"It is to give us a head start so we can start the work straight away.

"We would hope the planning decision is made at the end of March, early April, and then we'll aim to open in May."

Mr Crossan said the bar will still be called the Clutha, which is the Gaelic name for the Clyde, but it will be different to what it was before the crash.

He said: "It's changed forever, 10 lives have been lost, how can it not be different?"

Mr Crossan said it was important to think about ideas for a memorial and would discuss them with families and the council.

He thought the grass area near to the Briggait could be a possible location.

"I am hoping to talk to the families and discuss what could be done," Mr Crossan said.

"Then I'll go to the council with some different ideas and see what we can do. I was thinking we could do something on the banks of the Clyde - maybe a memorial garden where people can go and have a quiet moment - and that would be away from the building but still near it."

Mr Crossan said the memorial is something his charity The Clutha Trust might consider funding if it is appropriate.

Pilot David Traill, and police constables Tony Collins and Kirsty Nelis were killed when the Eurocopter EC 135 crashed on to the building.

Those killed in the pub were John McGarrigle, Mark O'Prey, Gary Arthur, Colin Gibson, Robert Jenkins and Samuel McGhee. Joe Cusker was pulled from the wreckage alive but later died in hospital.

An initial report said the aircraft suffered engine failure. The final conclusions of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch are expected to be released later this year.