Waste land turned into £800,000 park
Waste land for sale in the east end of Glasgow is to be transformed into an £800,000 park with skateboarding, football and cycling facilities.
Work will begin later this month on the triangular one-hectare site which borders Shettleston and Parkhead.
A major feature of the new Beardmore Park will be a historic 30-tonne steam hammer which project bosses hope will become an east end land mark.
Local housing associations, pensioners, youth groups and primary schools were all asked what they would like to see happen to the brownfield site. As a result, Beardmore Park will feature a picnic area, a skateboard park, a kickabout football area and an off-road track for cyclists.
The waste land for sale was originally considered for housing development but, due to its history of coal mining, it wasn't suitable.
It is hoped contractors Land Engineering will move on to the site at the end of the month and make the land for sale safe before work begins.
Planning permission for the park has already been given the go-ahead for the park by Glasgow City Council.
The total cost of the project including land scaping, grass and trees, is expected to be £800,000. The bulk of the funding package is now in place including £150,000 cash from the National Lottery.
Local people involved in the consultation process for the park decided they wanted to call it Beardmore Park after William Beardmore and Company, a heavy engineering firm which once made gun barrels in the area.
Source: Evening Times, 10.1.2005
