The people of Gorbals are still in the dark over the future of the St Francis Centre, despite being told at a meeting on October 12 to expect a decision within a fortnight.

Hutchesontown Councillor James Mutter told a public meeting in the St Francis Centre, a £1.3 million conversion from a historic church into a public and community venue, that he expected the Archdiocese of Glasgow to decide whether they wanted to move back into the St Francis building within a ‘couple of weeks’.  

The Archdiocese are privately considering moving the church congregation, currently based in nearby Blessed John Duns Scotus church, back into the St Francis building, the community’s only public venue. If that happened, the Duns Scotus church hall would become the basis of the new community centre, financed by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow Chair and Gorbals native Willie Haughey. 

Colin McGowan, chair of the St Francis Matters Group, said, ‘The Archdiocese are dragging their heels. The city council should push them for a deadline – they’re messing about all the local groups.’

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Glasgow told the LOCAL NEWS, ‘We are in the process of discussing the situation with Blessed John Duns Scotus parishioners and the Franciscan community. No decision has been taken yet, but it is expected by the end of this year. It is a question of consulting and listening.’

Mr Haughey, whose new business HQ is being built in the area, said, ‘It is far from a done deal. A lot of people must be made happy first. I would be delighted to see St Francis open as a chapel again, but not at the expense of the community.’ He also expressed doubts about whether the Archdiocese would decide that it wanted the building, calling maintenance ‘cost-prohibitive’ and ‘scary’. He added, ‘We may be talking about this for nothing.’

The Franciscans sold St Francis to Glasgow City Council (GCC) in 1991 for £1 because they could no longer afford to maintain the imposing A-listed building, built in 1871. GCC currently owns and manages the St Francis Centre. Local groups hire it for regular meetings and events.    

Councillor Mutter told the meeting that nothing would happen until the Archdiocese had made their decision. He said, ‘It’s up to them. If it is decided that they want St Francis, I think that we will have a better facility in John Duns Scotus. St Francis has a tremendous history dating back to the 1860s. It’s a monument to the people of the Gorbals and is a part of our heritage.’ 

People from all over Scotland come to St Francis for Irene Logan’s group Fybromalgia Friends. The group has been offered alternative accommodation in the St Francis hall behind the centre, but it is unsuitable due to timetable clashes and the fact that the group requires help setting up their meetings, as they are all disabled.

Irene told the LOCAL NEWS, ‘If someone is prepared to build us a community centre that’s fine, but why don’t we stay in the St Francis Centre while it’s being built instead of being left with nowhere to go?’

Irene added, ‘I can’t tell my members anything. I need to know what’s happening so I can organise things. St Francis Centre is not taking bookings, the building will look as though it’s surplus to requirements.’ Her group has been offered a choice of more than 40 venues in other parts of the city.

Gorbals Youth and Community Theatre Manager Isobel Barrett, another regular St Francis user, added, ‘We keep on having meetings and asking questions but we get no answers.’

A spokesperson for GCC said, ‘The Council has been approached by the Catholic Church asking us to consider handing them back the St Francis Centre. We are currently in the middle of looking at all the options within the Gorbals area. At this stage, should we eventually decide to hand back the centre to the church, we believe that the majority of the community groups will easily be accommodated elsewhere in the area. However, we stress this is all at the discussion stage and nothing concrete has been approved by the Council. Any change will be community driven and community led.’