The owner of Alexandria’s St Andrew’s Church has said it is looking increasingly unlikely it can be saved following a huge fire.
Andrew Cuthbert told the Lennox that a structural survey on the building carried out after the blaze “didn’t look good” and that potentially only its iconic clock tower could be saved.
He said: “I still don’t know exactly what will happen next.
“We’ve commissioned two reports, the second of which will look at what could be done. The first report wasn’t good. There had been a report done by the council previously when they were allocated the funding. The state of the building before the fire was known, so we had that to call upon.
“When the structural engineer went out he said that it wasn’t worth saving. That was the feedback we had from him. That was the first feedback. The engineer hadn’t finalised on the clock tower, so we don’t know what the future holds for that yet.
“Because of the walls being sandstone, there was previously an issue with water retention that caused ongoing structural safety issues.
“We’ve had the site secured. Hopefully nobody tries to break in again. Although there’s not much left to wreck.”
Andrew added that he had looked into emergency grants for the building, but that none were available.
He explained: “I’ve reached out to various organisations about emergency funding. But unfortunately I don’t think there is any because it’s a B-listed building. So it’s not a priority.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
“I don’t know what the second report will say, but after that we’ll have to make a decision.”
Northern Irish businessman Andrew purchased the church in an online auction in 2015 for £62,000, however its redevelopment has been hit by delays.
The building had previously been the target of vandals, with a fire also started on Easter Sunday – a week before the building was fully engulfed in flames.
However, he says he remains keen for the site to be used by the community, even if a new building has to be constructed.
He added: “If it is demolished then there will be two potential situations; either the clock tower is left, or nothing is left.
“The engineer said to me that, in his opinion, if nothing was left then we could put a fresh building there – purpose built. I’m still keen on it being used by the community.
“If they could benefit then that would be the right choice.
“You could do a lot with £750,000. But that depends on what lies ahead.”
