It was Mackintosh’s first public commission, designed for The Herald and completed in 1895. When the newspaper moved out in 1980 after 112 years, the Category-A listed building sat unloved until a 15-month, £8.5 million refurbishment saw it reopen as “The Lighthouse” in 1999. The Queen came all the way to Mitchell Lane for the occasion, which coincided with Glasgow’s year-long celebration as the UK City of Architecture and Design. At the time, the festival was criticised for being another Scottish field trip for the London culture crew that failed to connect on a grassroots level to the city itself. It had Londoner Deyan Sudjic as the festival director. A London agency designed the logo. The usual. “And the year of architecture and design has had little or no impact on many Glaswegians and others who work in the city,” The Herald reported at the time.
While a success during the festival, The Lighthouse failed to maintain its popularity. Ten years later in 2009, it went into administration. It had been flying high as a hub for elite creatives and its bosses had the ear of the Scottish government, whispering sweet nothings in ministers’ ears about the importance of design. But it had issues. It required frequent subsidies from the public purse. Around 40 people lost their jobs when it collapsed. Glasgow City Council was forced to take over. For the next 10 years it operated as a popular tourist attraction, welcoming thousands of visitors each week to peruse its exhibitions and glorious view. But six months after it celebrated 20 years, The Lighthouse was closed again.
While “active discussions” are a far cry from actively reopening the building, it’s got me thinking about the potential of The Lighthouse. We could really use a powerful lobby for architecture and design. The Mackintosh-designed, council-owned Martyrs’ School in Townhead is currently up for sale. Pigs might fly before the Mackintosh building at Glasgow School of Art gets rebuilt. Alexander Thomson’s Egyptian Halls have been stuck in limbo and covered in scaffolding since around 2009. The list goes on. The state of our built heritage has been reported to death at this point and not much seems to change. And as the saying goes, out with the old, in with the new. And while Scotland’s largest city is in dire need of investment, everything anyone wants to build here is dull, boring and bland.
It would be nice to have a physical space for exhibitions, lectures, discussions and events to inspire people once more to demand better architecture and design. Learning from past mistakes and elitist tendencies, The Lighthouse could become a champion for homegrown talent. There’s a lot to celebrate when it comes to Scottish architecture as well as a huge community of people who care about it. How amazing would it be to have a Glaswegian answer to the Design Museum in London?
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Now, how to reopen The Lighthouse and keep it open? Well, I think it might be time to start charging an entrance fee to our cultural institutions. Yes, it is noble that Scotland has had such an enduring tradition of free entry to galleries and museums run by local authorities, but it’s unsustainable, especially in this enduring cost crisis. As proof, last week the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh said it would need to close one of its galleries without a significant cash boost from the Scottish Government. It operates the National, Portrait, Modern One and Modern Two galleries in Edinburgh and is looking at a £40 million hole to plug over the next 10 years. More than 2.4 million people visited its sites in 2023. I doubt a reasonable ticket price would greatly impact those numbers.
The Lighthouse has been quietly closed for five years because Glasgow City Council cannot afford to staff it. But what kind of entrance fee would actually be required to ensure that an important cultural asset like this stayed in the hands of the local authority? Perhaps we could even make a little money off it? If you’re from Scotland, you get a heavily discounted concession price. If you’re the recipient of any benefits or council tax discounts, you get free entry. And tourists? That will be a tenner, please. I want our cultural institutions and creative industries to flourish hand in hand, but they are suffering. So it’s time to start thinking about solutions.
I really hope that the council and its mystery organisation are able to come to a successful agreement soon. The skyline has changed quite a bit since I last climbed that dizzying staircase to the top of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s water tower lookout over the city. I’m eager to take it all in while catching my breath again, soon.
Marissa MacWhirter is the editor of The Glasgow Wrap newsletter. Each morning, Marissa curates the top local news stories from around Glasgow, delivering them to your inbox at 7am daily so you can stay up to date on the best reporting without ads, clickbait or annoying digital clutter. Oh, and it’s free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1