This is St Peter's Seminary, about an hour west
of Glasgow in Scotland. Or rather, it was. It was built in the 1960s to be a
training school for priests, and I think it's a beautiful
ruin of a building. But then, I like Modernist
architecture like this. In 1992, this was put on the list
of historic Scottish buildings in category A, which means that it's of
national or international importance. And architecturally, it is one of the most
important modern buildings in Scotland. But, by the time it was listed,
it had already been closed for years. The Catholic church had decided that
priests should train in towns and cities, not in remote places like this. And besides, times were changing. There weren't as many people who
wanted to be priests. No one was interested in buying the place,
and the church couldn't afford to keep an empty and extremely high-maintenance
building running for no purpose. One of the troubles with a unique
structure like this is that it's expensive and difficult
to keep repaired. So, a quarter of a century later,
what's left looks... rough. - The Archdiocese of Glasgow
has been responsible for it since the moment it opened. It was building which was very
difficult to reuse, because it had been custom built. No developer wanted a building
that had a huge, concrete chapel in it. We have a responsibility to try and
preserve the ruin, as best we can. It is now a ruin. It's covered in graffiti,
it's inaccessible, it's dangerous. We have, by statute, to try and
maintain some kind of security in that area, to insure it and so on. But after 40 years, we are
at our wits' end. In 40 years we have worked with
every imaginable idea. Developers have thought of
turning it into a community centre, or a hotel complex, and
everything in between. There were inherent weaknesses
in the building. Those who lived there have nightmarish
stories of water ingress, for example, of the fact that the wind would
blow so strongly through the windows, that curtains would be lifted to be
almost horizontal. So the building itself was not
an easy building to live in or work in, which made it even more difficult
to find an alternative use for it. - One arts organisation spent millions
on making it safer, removing asbestos and old fittings,
using it as a stage for light shows, hoping to turn it into an arts venue. But then they ran out of money. And besides, by design, this building's
in the middle of nowhere. There's a village a mile down the road,
but that's it. There are better places for arts venues. And there's no way in law to just
abandon a building like this. You can 'tjust decide that it doesn't
spark joy anymore and donate it to a charity shop. And if definitely can't be knocked down, because it's a really significant,
listed building. - So it's not just a listed building,
it's a grade A listed building. It's the highest form of listing possible,
and we are required to stick to all sorts of rules about not using
it for any alternative purpose, not amending it, trying to keep
the area around safe. Legally, we would give that building away,
with the estate, but whoever takes it on takes on responsibility for insurance,
for security, for upkeep and so on. So it's not so easy.
You literally can't give it away. There have been expressions of interest,
but when it comes down to it, it's a question of money, of finance. Because the building itself swallows
vast amounts of money, and even to maintain it
in its current ruined state, costs the Archdiocese
something like £60,000 a year. People have looked at the area around,
because it's on a beautiful estate. They have looked at perhaps
building houses there and using the profit from that. But that has been denied because there are
greenbelt issues which prevent that, too. And so there's something tragic about it,
there's something haunting about it. It's unrealistic to expect some
sort of deus ex machina. We remain open to working with anyone who
wants to come forward with plans, with ideas, but at the same time, realistically,
this is bigger than us. This is something for the state,
something for the nation. And most people would probably say, "what a mess". Those that understand buildings,
and that have an understanding of brutalist architecture, would see it
as an extraordinary treasure. That's the reality. It is both. - If this was centuries old,
rather than decades, it'd be a national treasure. The Scottish government would probably
pay to restore it. You could charge an admission fee. Parents would bring their kids
to picnic in the grounds. And the idea of spraying graffiti
on it would be abhorrent. But, apparently, it isn't. Despite the fact that this is a
one-of-a-kind historic religious building. This place has enormous historical
and cultural value but a negative financial value. And that, it turns out, is
a very difficult place to be in.
It’s a brilliant building and well worth a visit for anyone interested.
It’s a tricky situation, they building is of significant interest but extremely costly to continue with the maintenance and associated costs connected with it. No one will touch it due to the expensive upkeep costs and the unwillingness of the state to change the use of the building and because it’s situated in such a remote area it’s difficult to do pretty much anything with it.
The gov and the Catholic Church should get together and go in to some form of partnership to ensure the safeguarding of the building, maybe investigate the possibility of easing up on some of the regulation around the building to enable future use.
Aww I seen this but never watched it. Didn't know it's in Glasgow.
Where is it about?
It's bigger than us it's an issue for the state and the government... Last time I checked the world center of child abuse had it's own country and more money than any organisation on the planet... The Catholic church can sort it out themselves.
That guy has the face of a 10 year old on an old cunt's body
They are selling it for 1 pound to anyone who will do something with it
My mates band filmed a music video there Im sure
Edit: they did. https://youtu.be/G9A9crN1bww its pretty heavy and most people will hate it haha.
Can someone clarify why it's such an important and significant building? It looks like just another huge concrete skeleton to my untrained eye.