By Elspeth King and Mairi Robertson, People's Palace Campaigners

THE hit comedy show Still Game has featured an institution dear to the hearts of all Glaswegians: the People’s Palace. The residents of the mythical Craiglang gave a hard-up pensioner the wedding of his dreams in the Winter Gardens of the People’s Palace and a party that ended with a conga dance, led by a character wearing Billy Connolly’s famous banana boots from the museum collections.

Glasgow dreams are made of this. Hundreds have experienced special events in the Winter Gardens of the People’s Palace, the exotic alternative home venue to a sun-kissed Caribbean beach. The Winter Gardens were created as a magical escape from the Glasgow winter weather and the success of the institution lay in the combination “practically under one roof, of a museum, picture gallery, winter gardens and music hall”, according to Glasgow Corporation in 1898.

For several generations, the museum element has served as a compass for Glasgow history in a fast-changing city redeveloped many times over. The Glasgow diaspora can find past lives reflected in the exhibits that help visitors to Glasgow understand Glasgow culture.

All is not well with the People’s Palace. It has been closed since December 31, due to the reported instability of the Winter Gardens and the need to find adequate fire escape arrangements.

Despite a council promise to look at the future of all of Glasgow’s glass houses, no news or positive proposals for the Winter Gardens have been forthcoming. The cafe was removed on closure. In February most of the plants were removed; some were collected by a commercial plant retailer from Blackburn in an unmarked van. The glass has been whitewashed to prevent people seeing the extent of the stripping process but film of it can be seen on social media along with documentation released under a Freedom of Information request.

There is a legal obligation for owners to maintain A-listed buildings in good order and the question arises as to why the Winter Gardens are in such an apparent poor state only 20 years after restoration. Is there a major issue with the treatment of the Winter Gardens, or could it be that years of unmeasured vibration from TRNSMT, other rock festivals and major events bringing 55,000 people to the same small space have destabilised the building? We need clarity and transparency from the owners, Glasgow City Council. The practise of running the building as two separate departments is a contributory factor.

Although the museum is due to open at Easter, there is no programme of events or exhibitions at the People’s Palace published in Glasgow Museums’ What’s On programme for March to August. How it will fare without its cafe, gardens, exhibitions and events is in question.

Glasgow Green, one of the oldest public spaces in Britain, also has its problems with the continuing leakage from White’s Chemical Works. The Green is historic and sacred to public ownership. In this bicentennial year of James Watt, who worked out the principle of the separate condenser whilst taking a stroll on Glasgow Green, there is yet no commemorative event planned.

After the Save the People’s Palace petition, with nearly 50,000 signatures, a new organisation, the Friends of the People’s Palace, Winter Gardens and Glasgow Green has been formed to voice concerns, gather ideas and contributions and, when the full picture is known, raise the necessary funds to enable all three of these important cultural institutions to flourish.