Glasgow Art School fire: Council leader has hope
Image copyright PA There is "hope" for the future of Glasgow School of Art after it was gutted in a massive blaze, according to the leader of the city council.
Construction experts have suggested the historic Mackintosh building could be so badly damaged, it would have to be torn down.
But council leader Susan Aitken said the early indications were that it was not in imminent danger of collapse.
Ms Aitken said the council's focus would be to save the building.
She told BBC Radio Scotland: "We are certainly not writing off the Mackintosh building yet."
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Firefighters have been at the scene of the blaze, which also devastated the nearby O2 ABC music venue, for more than 72 hours.
At its height, there were more than 120 firefighters involved in the operation. Three appliances remained at the scene on Monday.
In an interview on Good Morning Scotland, Ms Aitken said initial superficial assessments have carried out by officials including building control officers.
"Certainly I think the consensus is that there is hope and and we are certainly not writing off the Mackintosh building yet," she said.
"Our intention, our focus will be to try and save that building and finding a future for it, but it's very early days."
It is the second time in four years that the art school has been badly damaged in a major blaze.
The Mackintosh building was at the centre of a £35m restoration project, overseen by Kier Construction, when the fire broke out late on Friday night.
One expert has suggested the cost of restoring the building after the latest fire could be more than £100m.
When Ms Aitken was pressed on whether she was willing to back restoration at any cost, she replied: "It's far too early to start talking about cost.
"We have seen lots of figures flying about but they are purely speculative.
"There's no one who's able to put a price on this at the moment."
Building expert Billy Hare compared the blaze to that which gutted the building housing Victoria's nightclub on Sauchiehall Street in March.
The professor of construction management pointed out that the council very quickly took the decision to demolish that building.
But Ms Aitken said that decision was taken because it was unstable and in danger of "imminent collapse".
"That's not the case, we think, with the Mackintosh building at the moment," she said.
"Having said that, it is very early days. The initial assessments are that what remains of the building is largely structurally solid but it is really, really early days."
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She said there was a consensus that the council should work with other organisations including the Scottish and UK governments to restore the building if it is possible.
"But there are many, many issues to be explored before we can give definitive answers on that," she added.
Ms Aitken will lead a meeting later with business representatives on the future of Sauchiehall Street in the wake of the fires at the art school and Victoria's nightclub.
She said businesses inside the cordon set up by the fire service are being invited to apply for zero-rating on business rates.
On Monday, fire investigators promised to find out what caused the blaze.
Assistant Chief Officer David McGown said a "comprehensive and professional" probe will be carried out.
He said it was still too early to speculate if the fire started in the art school or in a nearby building.
