THE OWNERS of the O2 ABC want to rebuild and ensure that a popular music venue is not lost to Glasgow city centre.

An application has been lodged with the council to demolish the building, which was devastated by the second fire at Glasgow School of Art last year.

The O2 ABC has been shut and boarded up as it has not been safe to enter, and the future of the site has been unclear.

However, Glasgow Labour MSP, Pauline McNeill, has met with the owners and she said they want to rebuild a new venue on the site.

Ms McNeill asked the Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay, if would be supportive of effort to ensure the city does not lose a music venue.

Mr Mackay had previously extended business rates support for small firms affected by the fire in the Sauchiehall Street area.

Ms McNeill said it is not yet clear what can be salvaged from the venue and how much a restoration would cost.

However, she said: “If we can save the facade then that’s good but we also want it to be a modern music venue for Glasgow.”

She asked Mr Mackay what support the Scottish Government could provide for ensuring the city keeps an important venue for Glasgow’s status as a Unesco city of music.

She said: “The O2 ABC Academy was widely seen as Glasgow’s most iconic and popular music venue. I recently met the owners, who are keen to have the O2 rebuilt”

Mr Mackay said while decisions over a new venue was not exactly his remit, he was sympathetic to the case.

He said: “Of course I will continue to work with the council, businesses and local MSPs, who have been very constructive and consensual in progressing the recovery of Sauchiehall Street.

“I would not want to overstep my role as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work or to try to act as a determiner on future planning, but I think that there is a very strong case for that performance venue to continue to be able to flourish to support Sauchiehall Street, the wider economy and Scottish performance.”

A spokesman for Urban Pulse, acting as representatives for the owners, said: "We fully understand the importance of this venue to the music and arts community across Glasgow. The owners of the site have proactively sought to ensure that there is a means to not only reinstate the property as a music and licensed venue but also to ensure that this is done with as little detrimental impact as possible to the local community and indeed fellow business owners both in the immediate vicinity and across the city.

"We are working closely with Glasgow City Council to ensure there is a safe and reasonable methodology for demolition and have sought to establish protocols for working with our neighbours the Glasgow School of Art.

"Having been victims of another devastating fire the owners remain resolute in their intentions to invest further on this city block to ensure that it remains an anchor for Sauchiehall Street and indeed the city. We are encouraged that the 02, campus and other tenants are keen to be party to the reinstatement."