THEY knew the plans were explosive.
They just did not think they would blow up in their faces.
Commonwealth Games organisers - and their government and council backers - wanted a spectacle when they announced they would demolish Glasgow's Red Road flats during this summer's opening ceremony.
They got it yesterday - 100 days early - in an example of Olympic-paced backtracking worthy of any gold medal.
Officially, the Organising Committee, or OC for short, bailed out of blowing up five of the remaining six tower blocks because of police advice that it was no longer safe to do so.
It was the sheer scale of opposition to their scheme - declared "crass and insensitive" by the professors of Glasgow School of Art, no less - that made the demolition risky.
Why? Because keeping protesters out of a giant blast zone would be a huge job for the police, just when they were at their most stretched for years. That, at least, was the official line yesterday.
Insiders suggested the shaky alliance behind the Games - the organisers themselves, Glasgow Labour and the SNP - just couldn't keep their nerve. The Games, despite their relatively modest sporting significance, are being billed as Scotland's big showcase.
Could Glasgow 2014, and its Red Road extravaganza, afford to be labelled "naff" internationally?
It wasn't supposed to be like this. The big showcase was meant to begin with a bang to rival the opening ceremonies of London 2012 or the Winter Olympics earlier this year in Sochi, Russia. But Glasgow didn't have the bucks to pay for such bangs.
Cue the Red Road plan, spelled out by David Zolkwer, the OC's artistic director. "Over the course of just a few seconds the city's skyline will be transformed forever," he said. "It's a bold and confident statement that says 'bring on the future' but it will also be an important opportunity for us to contemplate the many lives lived in the blocks."
Carolyn Leckie, a former socialist MSP, heard the announcement. "At first I was just stunned that somebody would make a celebration at seeing people's homes being blown up," she said. "Then I realised that one of the blocks - full of asylum seekers - would be left and I decided this would send the wrong message.
"My guess is that they realised the budget for the opening ceremony wasn't enough to create a spectacle and some bright spark realised something spectacular was scheduled to happen anyway - using somebody else's budget."
The main backers of the Games, however, were supportive. Gordon Matheson, leader of the city council, said the blowdown would be "symbolic of the changing face of Glasgow".
That was a red rag to some of his critics, including city nationalists, who feel the city's regeneration has been patchy at best. They included the SNP's David McDonald. He chairs the city committee which, as recently as Thursday, rubber-stamped a demolition licence for the Red Road. Mr McDonald's committee had another duty last week, to "note" the council's purchase of a retail unit at Red Road Court, the shabby parade of shops next to the high rises, for £200,000, in order to blow it up. "I think there was a rush to get the demolition done for the Games and the guy who held out before selling up got a good deal," Mr McDonald said.
His party bosses, however, were as enthusiastic as Mr Matheson about the demolition. Shona Robison, the Games minister, claimed it would send a "strong message". Yesterday she said Glasgow 2014 "listened to those who have objected". And the Red Road? It will still come down with a bang - but not in 100 days.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article