Having built the carpark at Stonefield Road in May 1978, Mecca Bookmakers faced action from the council for not opening it on time.
The bookmakers, previously located where William Hill is today had been permitted to extend their premises at the back, but it was on the condition they created a little carpark to stop people parking on the busy Stonefield Road.
Mecca fulfilled this promise building the carpark but by May 1978, they had refused to open it, attracting a citation from Hamilton District Council. Mecca’s manager explained they HAD opened the carpark quietly with no ceremony, but on the same day it opened, vandals used it to get to the extension and pulled down back fences to get into gardens at the back. A garden wall was pulled down with residents making claims against Mecca for failing to protect their properties adequately.
So, Mecca simply closed the carpark again, almost immediately after it opened but only for the duration of making repairs. It was in that period that the council noticed it shut and demanded it was made available immediately, repairs or not.
Mecca complied and opened the carpark, but put a watchman on night duty for the first week or so, until the repairs were finished and they were satisfied that vandals could not easily cause any further damage.
The carpark may not have initially been as large as it is today.
From “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said,