THE chair of the Glasgow School of Art, Muriel Gray, has told MSPs she has "no regrets" over the way the school (GSA) had treated the Mackintosh Building.
Two fires, one in 2014 and a devastating one inin June, have left the world famous building in ruins in the centre of Glasgow.
At a session of the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament, Ms Gray told its convenor, Joan McAlpine MSP, that although she had been "heart broken" by the fires, she would not change any of the decisions made about how the GSA ran the building.
MSPs on the committee spent more than an hour quizzing Ms Gray, as well as Professor Irene McAra-McWilliam, deputy director, and Liz Davidson the senior project manager of the Mackintosh Building Restoration.
The committee heard how a mist suppression system, for battling fires in the building when it re-opened, was 60% finished by the time of the June fire this year.
READ MORE: Expert calls for GSA to give up responsibility for Mackintosh Building
The causes of the 2018 fire are still unknown, and fire service and Police Scotland investigations are still ongoing: the police, the committee heard, still have 70 interviews to conduct.
A report into the fire and its causes are expected early next year.
The fire service has said it has a "high volume" of information to deal with in a "complex" case.
Ms Gray said the board of the GSA are committed to rebuilding the building, on Charles Rennie Mackintosh's plans.
Towards the end of the session, Ms McAlpine asked: "Do you have any regrets at all, in terms of the decisions you have made, would have done anything differently, do you take any responsibility?"
Ms Gray said: "I take full responsibility, at all times, for what happens at the GSA, 100%.
"I have massive regrets that we have suffered two major disasters, it is more than regret, it has broken my heart.
"We have audited ourselves in precisely the same way as this committee rightfully has.
"There is no question that you have asked that we have not asked ourselves 100 times.
"We keep asking ourselves, could we have done this better? Is there something we missed? Is there a lesson we can learn to take forward? So we are very self-critical.
"I don't have any regrets about the process, I have massive regrets that these things have happened - but no, I can't say in all conscience say that I would have done anything differently."
She added: "I do regret not having engaged, and more fully, with the local community.
"I really do, because that was a communications mistake, and it wasn't intended. That is the one thing I do regret."
When pressed by Ms McAlpine, Ms Gray added: "I have really gone over this, over and again, we are very self examining."
READ MORE: Art School's submission to Culture Committee
In a statement released following the committee hearing, the GSA said: "The GSA welcomed the opportunity to come to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee meeting this morning so as to address the rumours, supposition and speculation that have been circulating since the 15 June by sharing the facts with members.
"We submitted detailed paperwork to the committee in advance of the meeting to help answer questions around the restoration including issues of safety and access, and to clarify both the possession of the site at the time of the fire (Kier Scotland Ltd) and the GSA’s oversight of the restoration.
"In particular we were pleased to be able to tackle head on the allegation that there is a causal link between our corporate governance and the occurrence of the second fire when the cause of that fire is not yet known.
"Like everyone we are waiting patiently for the outcome of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s thorough review of the fire, and once it is published we will consider the findings carefully.
"In the meantime we want to reiterate that our focus is on making sure the students at The Glasgow’s Art School get the best creative education in these extraordinary and challenging times."
READ MORE: 'Relieve GSA of responsibility for The Mack' expert says
In a submission to the committee, the recenlty departed director of the GSA, Professor Tom Inns, suggests any rebuild of the Mackintosh Building could be overseen by a Trust.
He says: "The budget allocated to the last restoration was £49 million over a 5-year period.
"If as suggested the rebuild will cost in excess of £100 million over 5-7 years, ie more than twice the scale of the previous restoration over a longer period of time, this could potentially draw considerable energy, resource and profile away from the Glasgow School of Art and its core purpose of creative teaching and research excellence."
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