LIBRARY CLOSING

The rapidly declining service provided by the Central Library upset Sybil Ruth so much that she went on the Adrian Goldberg Show Radio WM to air her views.  Brian Gambles came on to tell us that because he was undertaking a huge job of re-organising the books and archives there was no alternative but for the Library to close to the public to allow the staff to get on with their work.   

E-PETITION

The Council eventually posted a feeble response that missed the point entirely about whether the Council had considered alternative uses for the Central Library. Along with previous responses from Councillors Bore and Ward, we can now safely say that at no time has the Council ever considered the possibility that the building could be used for something else.   

MEDIA INTEREST

Journalists from the print and broadcast media continue to come to ask for interviews and help with their research. Chris Beanland is doing a piece for The Independent and a researcher is working on a 3-part documentary for Radio 4 that will include stuff on the Central Library. Midlands Today has been in touch about the huge cost of the new Library at a time of severe cutbacks.  Mark Thomas used a hilarious clip from Lucinda Lambton’s 2008 interview with Brian Gambles in his Radio 4 show on 12 January.

OBJECTION OVER-RULED

I was granted 3 minutes to persuade councillors on the Planning Committee not to approve Argent’s application for Paradise Circus when it met a few days before Christmas 2012. Of the many reasons for objecting to the plans I chose to point out that the buildings were visually less sympathetic to the Town Hall, Council House and Chamberlain Memorial than Madin’s carefully designed Library. I took along enlarged images to illustrate the point but was ruled out of order by the Chair, Councillor Mike Sharpe. The images, which had been produced by the developers themselves, showed the Chamberlain Memorial disappearing against the fussy background of Glenn Howells over-weening office blocks. Not surprisingly the application was approved ‘nem con’.

Alan Clawley

LIBRARY CLOSING IN JUNE 2013

The Central Library has been winding down for many months now but the management have now announced that it is to close ‘for good’ in June 2013. This leaves a gap of 3 months when there will be no library service available in the city centre.

ECONOMIC CASE FOR REDEVELOPMENT

At the end of September the Council’s Corporate Information Governance officer informed FCL, ‘The only information Birmingham City Council hold on how many people employed [sic] in the Central Library or Chamberlain House in Paradise Circus, is contained within the Environmental Statement accompanying the outline planning application for Paradise Circus; Existing jobs estimated at 1,059 – this is only an estimate based on density of development calculations. Predicted total FTE jobs 9,898 – this is based on the minimum floor space figures, so there could well be more.’ ‘The other buildings you have mentioned are private businesses and therefore we would not hold any information.’ In a letter from Senior Governance Officer, Dean Robinson, on 4 October, he stated; ‘I am currently trying to locate any information that estimates the net benefit of redeveloping Paradise Circus.’ Nothing has been received since.

E-PETITION

FCL’s e-petition calling on the Council to re-think its policy was signed by 688 people in the space of one month and closed on 15 July 2012. We  have since received a response from the Council’s Development and Culture Directorate and will publish it in a separate post.  

QUESTION TIME          

Councillor Bore’s reply to an oral question on 16 October 2012 is on the Council’s website. He conceded that ‘ the cyclical nature of market conditions gives rise to effects which sometimes encourage the provision of new commercial space, whilst at other times discourage its provision’, but he didn’t say where Birmingham was in this cycle. With touching faith in the professionals he endorsed ‘the consensus view from the property consultants that the supply of new Grade A offices in Birmingham City Centre would be exhausted somewhere between 2014 and 2016’.

MEDIA INTEREST

Andy Foster took part in Adrian Goldberg’s radio WM show on 27 November 2012. Adrian was following up Bernardette McNulty’s article in the Telegraph on 26 November 2012. A freelance journalist has recently contacted FLC about a forthcoming story on the loss of Madin’s buildings.

OBJECTION SUBMITTED

FCL submitted a lengthy letter of objection to Argent plc’s Planning Application for the redevelopment of Paradise Circus.

Alan Clawley, Secretary, Friends Of The Central Library

Submission from a follower. (We will post submissions in the interests of openness and discussion but the views expressed are not necessarily those of Friends Of The Central Library):

Please wake up Birmingham and try to remember all the awful things you have done to your city and think again about your latest plan to demolish one of the very few INTERESTING buildings you have. Yes, you made a massive mistake in demolishing the original Victorian masterpiece (sort of) to build The Ziggurat, BUT ignorance of good and interesting architecture is surely no excuse this time round! The Rotunda has already been destroyed by some idiot planning official/s: That building WAS all about black n white Art Deco/Pisan Romasesque/OP ART funkiness NOT just about a cylindrical shape which now that its facade is gone looks like any boring block anywhere on Earth. And no doubt those planning official/s who gave the developer permission to skin the building alive, still think they have PRESERVED the city’s lovely Rotunda …

So IF Brum has the imagination (this can’t be had without humanity though) to keep The Ziggurat then there is frankly no point unless it decides to RESTORE the poor building in three easy ways: 1. Get rid of those hanging baskets. (Can anyone imagine what the National Theatre would look like if it was in Brum? For a start it would be covered in hanging baskets. Is Spaghetti Junction decorated in hanging baskets btw?) 2. Get rid of the junk-food retailers and all those shops that degrade the building and its location - this can be done by restoring the open space and chucking out the tacky glass roof. (This ain’t no Louvre pyramid here - just a tacky shopping mall glass roof) and 3. Please get rid of the tacky nail-salon-style pink neon sign and restore the original modern bronze lettering above the Main Entrance.

But I doubt anyone responsible for the architecture of Birmingham actually cares; I believe it is a syptom of the city’s low self esteem which will result in another massive cultural disaster. What a shame.