County Buildings, Dumbarton | |
---|---|
Location | Garshake Road, Dumbarton |
Coordinates | 55°56′55″N4°32′46″W / 55.9487°N 4.5462°W |
Built | 1965 |
Architect | Lane Bremner & Garnett |
Architectural style(s) | Brutalist style |
County Buildings was a municipal structure in Garshake Road, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The complex was the headquarters of Dunbartonshire County Council and was subsequently used as council offices for West Dunbartonshire Council.
The original county offices in Dumbarton were in the Sheriff Courthouse in Church Street. [1] In the early 1960s, the council leaders decided that Dunbartonshire County Council needed larger offices and they selected a site to the southeast of Garshake Road in what was once part of the Crosslet Estate. [2]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the council convener, Hugh Gillies, on 26 June 1963. It was designed by Armstrong Lane, Duncan Bremner, and Alan Bristow of the firm of Lane Bremner & Garnett in the Brutalist style, built in concrete and glass at a cost of £800,000 and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on 28 June 1965. [3] The design involved a five-storey long and narrow main frontage facing onto Garshake Road. In front of the main building there was a large two-story structure and, behind the main frontage, there was a smaller single-story square building which accommodated the council chamber. A statue sculpted by James Barclay depicting a mother and child was installed outside the main entrance. [4]
After the abolition of Dunbartonshire County Council in 1975, ownership of the main building passed to Strathclyde Regional Council and, following the introduction of unitary authorities in 1995, ownership based to West Dunbartonshire Council. In the early 21st century, the council, finding County Buildings "out of date", "crumbling" and "in the wrong location", decided to commission new offices which were to be erected behind the façade of Dumbarton Burgh Hall. [5]
After the staff moved into the new offices in July 2018, [6] the structure on Garshake Road was demolished in summer 2019. [7] [8] The site was marketed for sale in September 2018 and, in November 2019, Miller Homes acquired the site for around £6 million [9] and subsequently secured planning consent to build 86 houses there. [10] [11] The new development was named Garshake Gardens. [12]
Alexandria is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The town is on the River Leven, three miles north of Dumbarton and 15 mi (24 km) north-west of Glasgow.
West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Stirling.
The Vale of Leven is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term Leamhnach, meaning field of the Leven. Leamnha is thought to mean elm-water.
Dumbarton is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Vale of Leven Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Alexandria, in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed the Vale and formed in 1939, they play at Millburn Park. They play in the West of Scotland League Third Division, the ninth tier of Scottish football.
West Dunbartonshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election and covers the same area as the county of West Dunbartonshire.
Cardross is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical county of Dunbartonshire but the modern political local authority of Argyll and Bute.
Bonhill is a town in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It is sited on the Eastern bank of the River Leven, on the opposite bank from the larger town of Alexandria.
Dumbarton is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering parts of the council areas of Argyll and Bute and West Dunbartonshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Jim Bollan is a councillor in West Dunbartonshire, representing the West Dunbartonshire Community Party. Until 2016 he was a member of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), having been the only elected representative from that party left in Scotland.
Dumbarton Burgh Hall is a municipal structure in Church Street, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The building, which is the headquarters of West Dunbartonshire Council, is Category A listed.
Leven is one of the six wards used to elect members of the West Dunbartonshire Council. It elects four Councillors.
Clydebank Town Hall is a municipal building in Dumbarton Road, Clydebank, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Clydebank Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.
Dumbarton Municipal Buildings is a structure in Glasgow Road, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies, is a Category B listed building.
Star of Leven Football Club was an association football club based in the town of Alexandria, in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court is a judicial structure in Church Street, Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The complex, which was the headquarters of Dunbartonshire County Council and is currently used as a courthouse, is a Category B listed building.