The Glasgow Union Street fire is a major blow but there is a big thing about the city that is often overlooked, writes Ian McConnell.

Much tends to be made of the challenges faced by Glasgow city centre.

The difficulties of arguably the city’s most famous thoroughfare – Sauchiehall Street – have been very much in focus in recent years.

And the Union Street fire has seen a much-loved part of the city centre’s fabric destroyed.

As the fire was raging on Sunday March 8, there were two realisations as the dome of the building at the corner of Union Street and Gordon Street was collapsing. The first was about how far the fire had spread from the vape shop in which it is believed to have started. The second was that this was the building with the famous Irn-Bru advert on the roofline in decades past, a bright image which could be seen from far up Renfield Street, often through the Glasgow rain.

It has been heartening to hear big hopes voiced for what might be developed in what has become the latest major gap site in Glasgow city centre – probably now the most prominent one.

Time will tell what happens on that front. There certainly seems to be plenty of determination in the city to move things forward, which will hopefully prevail ultimately over the many obstacles that will have to be overcome in redeveloping the site. Whatever happens, it would be good to see the architectural heritage restored.

In the meantime, amid all the understandable distress over a fire which has also caused huge disruption to rail services to and from Glasgow Central station, it is important in any narrative about the city centre to recognise the many positives of recent years and decades.

Union Street in the........

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