- This article is about the estate in Glasgow, and should not be confused with Sighthill (Edinburgh).
Sighthill was a high rise housing scheme in Greater Springburn, north Glasgow. It consisted of ten twin 20 (G-19) storey slab blocks, seven 5 storey mainsonette blocks and five rows of tenements. Sighthill lies just across the M8 motorway from the city centre, east of Port Dundas, south of Cowlairs and west of Royston. There are two areas that make up the housing scheme:
Construction began in 1964 undertaken by Crudens Ltd, the land having previously been farmland incorporating a main line railway route from Buchanan St Railway Station to St Rollox Works, situated beside the site of Pinkston Power Station at Port Dundas which provided power for the city's tram network which was soon to cease. The estate was completed in 1969.
Throughout its history, the neighbourhood suffered from stigma as high rise living went out of fashion and suffered from low demand since the mid 1970s despite its attractive proximity to the city centre.
Because of its high void rate, in the late 1990's Sighthill was selected, along with nearby Red Road, as the location where refugees and asylum seekers would be housed. As a result, Sighthill has one of the most diverse ethnic makeups in Scotland. In 2001, a spate of racially motivated attacks culminated in the fatal stabbing of Iranian refuge "Firsat Dag" at the Rainbow Bridge over the M8 into Sighthill Park. He had lived in Sighthill for only 2 weeks. The death of Firsat Dag highlighted the problems of housing so many refugees and asylum seekers in one area and the strain put on the community by the new arrivals. Since then, other housing estates have also been designated for the housing of such people.
In 2005, letting was suspended in the Fountainwell side of Sighthill as new landlords, Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) considered the estate's future. The decision was eventually made by GHA that Fountainwell should be demolished. The first demolitions of the multi stories took place on July 13th 2008 with the demolition of Eagle & Barony Heights. The remaining three multis in the Fountainwell side of the estate: Tennant, Phoenix and St Rollox Heights were demolished on November 29th, 2009. Both sets of demolitions took place at 02:30 in order to let Network Rail check the adjacent railway tracks were clear of debris before the 06:00 service left Queen street Station.
All of the Pinkston multi's are earmarked for demolition despite a 5 year campaign by residents to have their homes saved. Two blocks were to be kept following a successful campaign lead by Glasgow actress Elaine Mackenzie Ellis. She and her fellow tennants have secured the future of Pinkston & Crawfurd Heights. The remaining three tower blocks, Parson, HUNTINGDON and Hartfield Heights were sheduled for demolition if a buyer couldn't be found. They weren't. The Fountainwell area is to be sold off to private landlords for development with Pinkston and the adjacent hillside (The Cuddies) being developed for social housing.. PARSON & HARTFIELD were the largest of all the multis with 4 apartments within as opposed to the traditional 3 in all the other blocks.
GCC & their partner in crime GHA had decided to demolish all five remaining Sighthill multis in the Pinkston area. Funding had been made available to redevelop the whole area including Fountainwell to become the new athletes village for the 2018 Youth Olympics bid. The bid was subsequently lost but the demolitions will go ahead none the less.
All remaining tower blocks in Sighthill have been demolished. It's uncertain what will be built in their place.