A HISTORIC building in Glasgow is being demolished over safety fears.

Work has started to knock down the former Springburn Public Halls after it was found to have "significant damage".

As reported in the Evening Times on Saturday, council workers shut off part of Keppochhill Road last week over fears the 110-year-old building could collapse.

The halls, at 46 Keppochhill Road, were fenced off and the road closure was put in place at Millarbank Street.

Workers made the building secure while an investigation was carried out to establish the scale of the damage.

Once the decision was made that nothing could be done to save the B-Listed halls, demolition experts were called in and have now started dismantling parts of the building by hand.

Bulldozers are expected to move in by the end of the week.

The building is owned by the council. It is attached to tenement blocks, with almost 40 homes.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said "We hand delivered letters to the people who live beside the halls. They were told we might have no option but to demolish the building."

The Italianate-style, red sandstone building was opened in 1902 and from 1960 was used as Springburn Sports Centre.

It was closed by Glasgow District Council due to dry rot problems in 1985 and has lain empty and rotting since.

Since then, building surveys have shown the walls are deteriorating and moss and plant growth is beginning to damage the stonework.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said she felt the people living next to the landmark had been put in danger.

She said: "My back bedroom and kitchen is now part of the fenced off zone and we feel like we are in danger.

"The halls should have come down years ago or something should have been done to stop them from getting this bad.

"We should have been moved if they have been this unsafe."

Developers have shown interest in developing the building for various different uses since its closure in 1985. But none of the proposals were ever taken forward.

In 2009 a deal between the council and Spectrum Properties to convert the building into offices and a childcare centre fell through.

The council spokesman said the demolition work was expected to take six weeks.

Diversions mean traffic is being directed to the Springburn Expressway, Fountainwell Road, Pinkston Road, then on to Keppochhill Road.

rachel.loxton@heraldandtimes.co.uk

We feel like we are in danger. We should have been moved if they have been this unsafe