A £3.5m Commonwealth Games legacy project has closed after the charity behind the venture was put into administration.
Many of the community services at the Dalmarnock legacy hub are understood to have stopped amid financial problems at the People’s Development Trust (PDT), and jobs will be lost.
Local SNP MSP John Mason said: “I greatly regret that the Trust running the Hub has now gone into administration. Clearly the Legacy Hub itself is a high class facility that should continue to be available to those living in the community with the potential for expanding the uses of the Hub.”
The Hub, opened at a gala launch in 2015 which featured football legend Kenny Dalglish, was aimed at securing a legacy for the east end of Glasgow by providing a new recreational and education centre.
The £3.5m was provided by the Scottish Government, Clyde Gateway and lottery money, while the council in Glasgow sold the land on which the Hub was based for a peppercorn sum.
The facility housed health services, a cafe, as well as IT, training and nursery facilities, and created dozens of jobs.
However, the project was mired in allegations of cronyism and auditors were called in to look over the books.
It is understood a change in management helped the hub, but financial problems persisted.
A note stated that two financial specialists at KPMG were appointed as “joint administrators” of the PDT on Friday.
It added that the company had “ceased to trade” and the “Legacy Hub is now closed”.
The medical and dental practice, as well as the pharmacy, will continue to operate as normal, but “all other services and bookings are cancelled”.
A source close to the project said the PDT had experienced problems in relation to VAT payments.
Mason, who represents Glasgow Shettleston for the Nationalists, said of the closure: “It is particularly upsetting for families using the nursery that they are having to find alternatives at such short notice.
“From the beginning, however, there have been concerns raised about the location of the Hub. It might have been better if it had been in Dalmarnock itself rather than so close to Parkhead where there have always been more facilities.
“Alongside this, there were questions over how financing and staffing were handled when it was set up by the previous Labour administration."
He added: “I am hoping that Glasgow City Council will work with other interested bodies to find a positive future for this great facility which was always intended to be a legacy from the Commonwealth Games. I believe it has the potential to both serve the local community and to be draw visitors from further afield to use it.”
Robert Connolly, a Tory councillor in Glasgow, tweeted yesterday: "Disappointed that the Legacy Hub has [gone] into administration. I will speak to council officers to see what can be done to keep services provided by the Legacy Hub."
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