ON behalf of the Archdiocese of Glasgow, Mosaic Architecture + Design has secured a grant of £93,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for ‘urgent’ masonry work and external repairs to the bell tower at St Aloysius’ Church in Glasgow.
The grant, added to a £140,000 grant awarded by Historic Environment Scotland, will allow Mosaic to engage a contractor to start work on the £400,000 project, which is scheduled for completion in six months.
Stephen Mallon, director of Mosaic said, “We are delighted to receive this support from the HLF to enable us to carry out urgent external repairs to the iconic St Aloysius’ Church Campanile. There is always a degree of uncertainty and anticipation when relying on lottery funding for projects and there was a great effort made by the full design team, including PDA and Armours, not to mention the whole client team who fully engaged in the process and the commitment to delivering the interpretation plan and community benefits of the scheme.
“The success of the submission is testament to everyone involved and we look forward now to the implementation and delivery phase of this exciting project.”
St Aloysius’ Church was built in 1910 to a design by Belgian architect Charles Menart. The marble clad interior was the work of the Austrian architect Ernest Schaufelberg, and was not completed until 1927.
Father Dermot Preston SJ, parish priest at St Aloysius’ Church added, “We are delighted at the news of this grant award which will mean we can at last make the building watertight and maintain the church-tower as an important heritage landmark on the skyline of central Glasgow. The parish community has raised over £100,000 for the Campanile through fundraising activities and personal donations, so with the generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we hope to focus our next stage of fund-raising on the interior decoration and lighting within the church. This award is a wonderful culmination to a lot of hard work by many people in the church community for which I am very grateful.”
Ríona McMorrow, acting head of the National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland commented, “Scotland’s historic and diverse places of worship are at the heart of our communities. Thanks to National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund funds structural repairs and improves facilities and visitor information. St Aloysius Church is an excellent example of how the Fund can help conserve a much loved building so it can continue to serve its local community.”
