GLASWEGIANS, and Scottish viewers, may have watched the unfolding disaster at Notre Dame both with horror and with a little recognition.
Although perhaps not a world monument such as the cathedral at the heart of Paris, the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art is similarly close to many peoples hearts. It was also, like Notre Dame, both a Building and a work of art. With treasures within.
We do not know what ignited the Notre Dame conflagration nor, indeed, do we know what started the second disastrous fire at the Mack.
READ MORE: Notre Dame Cathedral fire ‘fully extinguished’
However, in both cases, historic buildings were being renovated. Only last week there was some social media fanfare as the statues were removed from the roof of the great cathedral.
As the Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament heard in its hearings last year, building sites, however well procedures are followed, can present some dangers for old or heritage buildings.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has yet to publish its report on the Mack fire and it causes, and even that may not come to firm conclusions. And it may be some time before we find out how the Notre Dame blaze began, especially as the roof appears to have completely collapsed: the site where it seems the fire began.
READ MORE: Glasgow Art School fire: MSPs to call for full public inquiry
One thing France and Glasgow have in common: a desire and a determination to build again. Of course, with the Mack, the GSA and Glasgow, they are now living with the aftermath of the second disastrous fire in four years. MSPs have, in a recent report, called for a full judicial inquiry. For France, it is an historic disaster, and one where an inquiry of some sort seems inevitable.
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