Letters to the Editor
[In view of the length of many of the letters which we receive, we would again remind correspondents that we often cannot give space for long letters and that short ones are generally read with more attention. The length which we consider most suitable is about that of one of our paragraphs on " News of the Week."—Ed. SPECTATOR.]
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sul,—The letter in your last week's issue, written by an anonymous contributor, is a - mere recapitulation of the arguments advanced by the trustees for the decision at which they have arrived. The writer must be entirely ignorant of the local circumstances,as he appears to accept the statement of the trustees that the site of the proposed library which they favour, is, in reality, three times the size of the site at present occupied by the Sheriff Court which it is proposed to demolish. I think any member of the public would assume that a site means a plot of land upon which buildings can be erected. But two-thirds of this so-called site is already occupied by the Parliament House and other buildings which cannot be taken down, and it is the cellarage beneath these buildings, the area of which the trustees bring into their calculations. These cellars are, no doubt, at present occupied as storage for books, but everyone admits that the storage is at present far from ideal, the access to it being through labyrinths of dark passages unprovided with lifts or other mechanical aids.
The site for the National Library is, however, inextricably mixed up with the question of where the new Sheriff Court is to be located. The National Library trustees have concen- trated their whole attention upon the Library itself without regard to this very important question. The original intention was to place the Sheriff Court on the site formerly occupied by the Calton Jail. The inconvenience of shifting it so far away from the existing Law Courts, with which it has hitherto had a close connexion, was so obvious that this idea had to be abandoned ; and it was to prevent this that the Corporation came forward and made an offer of the " island site," if the trustees, backed up by the Government, insisted that the old Sheriff Court should be demolished. This site when cleared of buildings would be as convenient and contiguous to the Law Courts as the existing Sheriff Court ; but at what cost of public money ? The present estimate is £75,000 for demolish- ing the buildings and paying compensation to the tenants who are displaced. I doubt very much whether that sum would suffice, for the site is at present occupied by, amongst others, a large draper's shop, two newspaper offices, various other shops, and a large number of residential tenants in the upper storeys. Assuming, however, that the £75,000 is adequate to clear this area, an additional sum of £100,000 at least will have to be expended in erecting a new Sheriff Court. That is to say, that for a building which the National Library trustees estimate will cost £178,000, £175,000 of public money will have to be wasted in providing themwith a free site—bythe removal of the present Sheriff Court. That building is modern, admittedly a fine example of .the best architecture of the nineteenth century, and quite adequate, for the purpose it serves. I have just spoken with two of the sheriffs, who occupy the building, and their only complaint which has been quite recently formulated is that they should like an additional court-room, which could be easily provided in the existing Sheriff Court. No person in Edinburgh, except the Library trustees, wants the existing Sheriff Court to be taken down and re-erected elsewhere. Contrast this state of facts with the architects' proposed site. That is at present occupied by a police court belonging to the Corporation which is now entirely inadequate for its purpose and which must come down in any case. Then there are some warehouses, shops and tenements of no architectural and small money value which can be acquired at a cost of no more than £30,000. But even if it came to £75,000 the saving to the Government of not having to take down and re-erect the Sheriff Court works out at £100,000. The alternative site has also the great advantage that there will be much less delay in proceeding to erect the National Library upon it than upon the site the trustees have selected. No doubt a new police court would first have to be erected, for which the existing Grassmarket would be an ideal site. If arrangements could be come to between the three parties interested this could be at once commenced' upon
a site already" belonging to the Corporation. The trustees themselves estimate that eight years will elapse before the Library can be erected on their chosen site.
Your second correspondent quite properly suggests that public opinion should be more definitely expressed than it hitherto has been. Though the trustees' proposals were laid before the public, it was impossible for outsiders to form an in- telligent opinion until an alternative site had been put forward. Now that we have had an opportunity of judging I think that it will be found that public opinion in Edinburgh is definitely against the trustees, and in favour of the Architects' Associa- tion, who in this matter are acting, I believe, entirely in the public interest. The Corporation of Edinburgh has through. out, through its Provost, intimated its objection to the removal of the existing Sheriff Court building. The Cockburn Association, on the Council of which I am, support the Corporation in every respect. No one at present wants to spend public money on the demolition of the buildings on the so-called " island site." The offer of that site was only made in order to prevent the calamity of the Sheriff Court building being transferred to the Calton Hill. I may add that I speak not merely as a member of the public, but as a member of the Faculty of Advocates, and that the Dean of the Faculty does not approve of the decision at which his colleagues of the Trust have arrived. All we ask is that a decision so vitally affecting the town planning scheme which the Corporation have so much at heart should not be acted on until the whole matter has been investigated by an impartial committee.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Dean Park House, Edinburgh. EDW. T. SALVESEN.
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