We ask the people of Glasgow what they think the former Glasgow O2 ABC should be developed into following talks of turning it into another music venue or student accommodation.
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00:00People in Glasgow like music, they like going out to music, you know, and if there's an opportunity to see live music
00:07they will take it.
00:08I was there about 15 years ago, it's a great place.
00:12Over the years before it was burnt down, I went to quite a few gigs in it.
00:17It is a, or it was a vinyl venue, it had quite an atmosphere in it, and it's got a lot of architectural punch.
00:27What would you like to see happen to it?
00:29I'd like it to be turned into a nightclub.
00:31Back the way it originally was.
00:33Anything that would preserve the built environment and the historical environment of Glasgow is great,
00:39but I can't see it happening.
00:40You know, it looks in a pretty perilous state, and it has done for a number of years,
00:45and everything up around that part, Suggy Hall Street, is undergoing some kind of development,
00:50so it feels as though it's inevitable it'll be knocked down.
00:53Keeps the city going, sobering later on in the night, and keeps the city buzzing, you know what I mean?
00:59Well, because culture, Glasgow culture basically is getting lost,
01:02too many things are getting lost in Glasgow already.
01:06I mean, the growth of student accommodation across cities in the UK is something to behold,
01:11since a lot of it was privatised and taken out of the hands of individual institutions.
01:17It's become a bit of a racket for independent developers and investors.
01:22They know they can make money out of it, they keep putting rent up for students,
01:25so if there is need for it, that's good, but not if it's at the expense of young students,
01:31who you're going to see their rent go up and up.
01:33We're losing far too much stuff in Glasgow,
01:36and so I think we should try and save what we've got left.
01:41There's plenty of student accommodation down at Buchanan View and all that,
01:45there's not nearly any.
01:46I do see that there's a need to upshop the student accommodation and all that.
01:50Housing is very important, but technically I'd still like to see it back the way it was originally.
01:57And would you like to see it become a music venue again?
02:00Oh yeah. I mean, it is pretty tricky to get mid-sized music venues.
02:07It's either something on the scale of the Hydro, which is massive,
02:12or maybe some smaller pubs, and there aren't so many venues,
02:17particularly because it's got two rooms in it, it's got that sort of size,
02:20so anything that helps out will be useful.