In the second of a special series of articles marking the 10th anniversary of the Morgan Academy fire, Stefan Morkis looks at the decisions the city council faced in the immediate aftermath.
Morgan Academy could have been razed completely and a new school built in its place or the land even sold off for development.
Although the city council soon decided to rebuild, the then convener of education has said that was not the only option on the table.
George de Gernier said the council’s first priority in the aftermath of the blaze was to find somewhere to teach hundreds of pupils.
“We were lucky enough at the time to have the former Rockwell School which afforded us a solution to re-house the pupils,” he said. “That was a big bonus for us a bit of good fortune. Education staff were able to get things up and running quickly so pupils’ education wasn’t disturbed too much.”
Although a clear plan on where to move pupils to was apparent within hours of the blaze, the building’s own future was less clear.
“There was extensive damage it was no minor fire. The question was whether the school should be razed and something new put on site,” he said. “There were some saying we should be doing something else rather than building another school on the grounds, so there was a wee bit of pressure not to rebuild, but not unduly so.
“But the structure and stonework was reasonably sound. We were dependent on the practical advice we sought and we decided to go ahead with rebuilding.”
Less than a month after fire had all but destroyed the building, the city council said it would rebuild a complex project that would restore the building’s famous facade, and upgrade the facilities inside the school as the main building would be entirely rebuilt.
Three years and £20 million later, the restored Morgan Academy was officially reopened by then Scottish education minister Peter Peacock. Pupils returned from their temporary home at Rockwell for the start of the new term in August 2004.
The rebuilt school won a clutch of awards, with the council praised for the bold decision to restore the build rather than knocking it down.To see more on our special series on the Morgan Academy fire, click here.