Slater talks to The Glasgow Guardian about Hive hiccups, the future of the Stevenson Extension, and cross-campus relations
Rory Slater, GUU President, has told The Glasgow Guardian that the issues with the Hive’s fire alarm have “have been resolved”. This statement comes after clubbers were forced to temporarily evacuate the Thursday Hive Club night two consecutive weeks in a row.
Slater told The Glasgow Guardian:”We have had a few teething issues with the Fire Alarm which unfortunately led to several evacuations of the building. GUU wants to be clear that the safety of our members and guests is paramount and this has never been compromised. We have been working closely alongside the University and the Contractors and are now happy that the issues have been resolved. We wish to thank all our members for their patience during this time.”
The Stevenson Extension has weathered a few minor hiccups following the its launch on Saturday 17th October.
There were issues with the air conditioning system on the first Thursday Hive club night on 22nd October, causing sweltering conditions in the packed new building. Rory Slater, GUU president, told The Glasgow Guardian that an issue with the cooling system caused it to be switched off.
He explained: “All the rooms are designed to be like sealed boxes for fire safety, so that was quite bad, but a lot of people commented saying it was like the old Hive, which they liked. It has been fine ever since.”
The Hive’s podium was initially deemed too high to be safe, and stewards had to be placed on the top level for students’ safety for the initial three club nights, to the dismay of many club-goers. The height of the second level of podium has now been reduced, becoming fully accessible and safe for all students.
The Well’s DJ, Adam Forbes, the Hive’s original DJ, played at both the closure of the original Hive in February 2013 as well as the launch party this year. The Hive Saturday’s DJ, Ross Mcmillan, has a wealth of Glasgow DJing experience from nights such as Viper’s Monday Night Heat, as well as other city centre venues.
Talking about the future direction of the new Hive, Slater told The Glasgow Guardian: “Hive Thursdays and Switch Saturdays will continue until Christmas…but we possibly want to increase that, to possibly Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but I’m also keen to run something maybe on Monday or Wednesday with perhaps just the Well and Base, as a nice little club. With so many options, who knows which direction it will go, but next semester we are looking to ramp up the use of it.
The Glasgow Guardian asked Slater how he felt towards cross-campus relations with the Queen Margaret Union, especially after the GUU UV Colours Hive and the QMU Red Ribbon Ball clashed, with both event aiming to raise money for charity. Slater responded: “We still have a really good cross-campus relationship, come refreshers’ week for example, we won’t be doing competing nights. The message is that the city centre is big competition for both of us, so it is worth working together, which is the plan.”
“Our first ever LGBT night (UV Colours Hive) was a resounding success with a packed out building and we also raised a significant amount of money for GULGBTQ+’s charities. GUU will be hosting the Launch Party for February’s Cross Campus LGBT History Month which will take place on Monday 1st February.”
