Catholic Church would give Brutalist ruin of St Peter's Seminary away for nothing
The Roman Catholic Church has said it is in a "catch-22 situation" over the A-listed St Peter's Seminary in Scotland, as it can't sell, demolish or give away the Brutalist ruin designed by Gillespie, Kidd and Coia.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow told BBC Scotland the Brutalist building, once hailed as a masterpiece, will remain a ruin unless it gets public funding.
A spokesperson said the Church has been unable to sell, give away or demolish the structure, which was granted A-listed status in 1992, following the renovation plans being shelved.
"The archdiocese recognises that it has the responsibility to maintain the estate, to keep it secure and provide the proper insurance cover, but as you can imagine it is a huge albatross around our neck." An albatross strung around the neck is a metaphor alluding to Samuel Colridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where the dead bird acts as a symbol of a burden that feels like a supernatural curse.
Cardross seminary is a significant modernist structure
Architectural firm Gillespie, Kidd and Coia completed the priests training college in Cardross, near Dumbarton, in 1966.
Scottish architects and Andy MacMillan and Isi Metzstein designed St Peter's Seminary's vaulted chapel ceilings and rough concrete form that owed a stylistic debt to Le Corbusier.
But with the number of aspiring priests in decline it never reached its full capacity of 100 students and had closed by 1980.
Since its completion the buildin...
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