O2 ABC on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street is now to be demolished, here’s a bit on its history

The O2 ABC has had many uses since its origin in 1885.

Transcript

00:00The O2 ABC on Sauchie Hall Street is now to be demolished due to public safety concerns

00:04quashing ambitions to save even the facade. The C-listed building was heavily impacted

00:09by the Glasgow School of Art fire in 2018, though it had been hoped that some of it could be salvaged

00:15but as no work had taken place since the incident it has deteriorated beyond this point.

00:20The venue dates back to 1875, it's shrouded in history having evolved with the people of

00:25Glasgow and its uses. It was built for the purpose of being a dance hall which it did

00:29revert back to throughout the decades. It was an ice rink for a time, one of the first buildings

00:33in the city to install electricity and famously it was also a cinema. In the 2000s it was renovated

00:39into its final identity that of a music venue and occasionally a nightclub which saw many

00:44great musicians pass through its door. Councillors have now voted that it be demolished giving the

00:49owners until the 9th of December to act. A planning application for student flats and

00:54a food hall in the site is to be considered.