With the heavy industries gone and new media industries burgeoning in their place, Govan today is in very real danger of dividing into two very distinct communities: on the one hand the luxury flat dwelling community attracted by the financial opportunities of the various Clyde Waterfront Regeneration projects, and on the other hand the older working class community, a community whose people were largely defined through being shipyard workers or wives and children of shipyard workers. This community now, with the decline in shipbuilding, feels dislocated from the new industry opportunities, has lost its focus and is facing numerous challenges. It is this second community which this project will concentrate on: by enabling local people to research their own heritage, i.e. the south bound journey of large numbers of their Hebridean forebears, from traditional boat building communities in the Outer Hebrides, to the large scale ship building on the Clyde, and their experiences as twentieth century shipyard workers, our project will record and celebrate the culture, skills and heritage of this community. No mere nostalgia, however, Spàrr is designed to support the Roots in the Community aspirations of bringing the different creative elements of the community together to create a new shared vision for the future which incorporates and respects the past but looks forwards rather than backwards. Spàrr is therefore intended to support and provide a platform for locally based initiatives. It is designed to be an integral element of the Govan Cultural Hub vision for a centre of learning attracting local people and visitors alike to access traditional cultures and heritage and to witness for themselves how Govan has managed to incorporate that diversity into a Govan for the 21st Century. The elements of the cultural hub are being co-ordinated by the Central Govan Action Planning process currently and they include, for example,
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