COMMUNITY groups are banding together to aim to ensure the future of one of the city's unique glasshouses.

Friends of Queen's Park is spearheading a move to look at how the park's glasshouse might be preserved for the future.

The group is in the process of setting up a steering group to look at what it calls a "sustainable business model" to make sure the 116-year-old structure is in use for generations to come.

Stephen Docherty, Friends of Queen's Park, said: "We want the glasshouse up and running again as a feature in the park and it has to serve the people who live around the park and beyond.

"We haven't yet had a meeting so at the moment all ideas are up for discussion - but we do not want to see it closed, we want to see it reinstated and to achieve that the building must have a purpose."

Friends of Queen's Park is joining forces with the four local community councils, Southside Housing Association, Queen's Park Arena and Langside Halls Trust with input from Glasgow City Council.

In July last year the Glasgow Times told how council bosses pledged the glasshouse would not be demolished.

Engineers had been spotted at the site assessing the building for any damage and surveying its condition.

In August last year work began to demolish the dome and store it for safekeeping while the future of the building is considered.

The glasshouse closed to the public in 2019 following safety concerns and its condition deteriorated.

Stephen added: "Parks have never been so important.

"This pandemic has shown people need green space for their mental health."

Glasgow currently has five Victorian glasshouses, which are costly to maintain.

In the north of the city, the Springburn Winter Gardens Trust last year announced ambitious £8.1 million plans to renovate the derelict glasshouse there.

The A-listed structure in the heart of Springburn Park has lain derelict since 1983 but locals have come together to form a trust to preserve the building and turn it into a community hub.

In 2018 it was announced the famous Winter Gardens on Glasgow Green would close indefinitely as around £7 million would be needed to repair it.