A newly-refurbished church and a virtual fire station tour are among the Lanarkshire highlights of this weekend’s nationwide Doors Open programme.
Public buildings across the country are welcoming visitors and running special events this Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19, as the annual event resumes following lockdown with a hybrid offer of in-person and virtual events.
The local venues taking part include the B-listed Cairnlea Church in Airdrie town centre, which has recently undergone a huge renovation project to transform its interior into a flexible space with improved accessibility and upgraded lighting and renewable air-source heating.
Its minister, Rev Peter Donald, told Lanarkshire Live how the first two phases of work have been completed, with the church reopening its transformed interior to parishioners in April and work on the adjacent former manse being finished last month.
He said: “We’ve had a couple of open afternoons for the congregation, and thought that with Doors Open weekend taking place across the whole area, we’d join in for people in the community to see the space.
“It’s a very beautiful interior and the church has gorgeous stained glass – it was poorly lit before the refurbishment, so it didn’t sing before but now it’s quite striking.
“There’s a lot of glass at the front now so people can see what’s going on and no longer wonder what’s behind the walls; and the sanctuary is now a very flexible space instead of having fixed pews and we’ve made accessibility improvements, replacing steps with platform lifts and taking away the sloping floor.”
Cairnlea was formed nearly a decade ago with the merger of Airdrie congregations Flowerhill and Broomknoll, with the church now being based in the 146-year-old former Flowerhill building, while nearby Broomknoll has been converted into flats.
The renovation work has also included transforming the former manse, now used as meeting rooms and for small groups, with Rev Donald saying: “We’re very keen to have it be of service to the community, as a newly-refurbished facility in the heart of the town.”
Now the final stage of the renovation, currently underway, focuses on Cairnlea’s busy church hall, and the minister added: “It’s always been a very heavily-used part of the building; the good thing is that with the sanctuary being very flexible, we can have everything taking place there for the moment which used to be happening in the church hall.
“We’ve had things like our toddler group in the sanctuary and it’s good that we can use it in different ways.”
He added: “We’ve added new air-source heat pumps, lights and insulation – and we’re really chuffed, even in a Victorian listed building, to have achieved heating which is environmentally responsible and will last for decades.
“We’re very happily opening up for Doors Open weekend; the whole project has been rather wonderful and people are very struck by it and there’s been an overwhelmingly positive response.”
Also taking part this weekend with visits and tours this weekend are North Lanarkshire churches St Augustine’s in Coatbridge and St Mungo’s in Cumbernauld, while events will take place on Saturday at Summerlee musuem, North Lanarkshire heritage centre and Cumbernauld library and museum.
Online sessions include a virtual tour of Coatbridge fire station, with links to be shared on the Doors Open day webpage; while the South Lanarkshire attractions welcoming visitors will include Biggar’s museum and fire station, Cuthbertson’s snow ploughs and Leadhills miners’ library.
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
And did you know Lanarkshire Live is on Facebook? Head on over and give us a like and share!
