Problems
The blocks were popularly known as 'Hutchie C' and nicknamed 'The Hanging Gardens of the Gorbals' in reference to the large balconies arranged in groups of four throughout the building. For the first ten years the building was reasonably popular with its inhabitants. However living in the development proved less glamorous as the maintenance required for such a large and complex structure was underestimated from the beginning. By November 1976, the local MP Frank McElhone, councillors and Scottish Office officials, attended a meeting called by the Laurieston and Hutchesontown Tenants' Associations who pressed for solution to the problem of damp and fungus in the buildings, which led to water running down the walls and water beetles lodging in children's clothing. Several tenants had been following a rent strike for a year in order to get action from Glasgow City Council. The future of the blocks was a major issue in the 1982 by-election in the Glasgow Queen's Park burgh constituency which covered the site.
The persistent dampness, coupled with the attendant problems of vandalism and the uncompromising design, meant that by the 1980s the complex had become a by-word for all that was worst in public sector housing. In 1987 and 1988, the City Council undertook a major renovation, adding a sloping white roof with pediments, placing bright blue cladding around the exteriors of lift shafts, and enclosing the by-then unusable balconies in conservatories.
Read more about this topic: Hutchesontown C
Famous quotes containing the word problems:
“She has problems with separation; he has trouble with unity—problems that make themselves felt in our relationships with our children just as they do in our relations with each other. She pulls for connection; he pushes for separateness. She tends to feel shut out; he tends to feel overwhelmed and intruded upon. It’s one of the reasons why she turns so eagerly to children—especially when they’re very young.”
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)
“If we parents accept that problems are an essential part of life’s challenges, rather than reacting to every problem as if something has gone wrong with universe that’s supposed to be perfect, we can demonstrate serenity and confidence in problem solving for our kids....By telling them that we know they have a problem and we know they can solve it, we can pass on a realistic attitude as well as empower our children with self-confidence and a sense of their own worth.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)
“Our [adult] children have an adult’s right to make their own choices and have the responsibility of living with the consequences. If we make their problems ours, they avoid that responsibility, and we are faced with problems we can’t and shouldn’t solve.”
—Jane Adams (20th century)