BIRMINGHAM LIBRARY CONFUSION

04-09-2006

The site of Birmingham's new central library is mired in confusion, after council leader Mike Whitby announced today that it would be built between Baskerville House and the Rep Theatre.

Despite Whitby's aura of conviction, The Stirrer understands that members of the city's Urban Design team have been telling architects that as many as six locations are still under consideration.

The leader'scertainty about the project also sits uneasily with the facts.

Consultants Capita Symonds have been commissioned to develop a feasibility study and to make a business case - so it's a bit “previous” to imply that the whole thing is cut and dried.

Plans to split the library and archive services have already proved controversial, and opposition to the idea is likely to continue.

Then there's the vexed issue of funding.

Our understanding is that although the existing library and surrounding Paradise Circus area are likely to be re-developed in the long-term, that process won't fund the new building(s).

So where will the money come from?

The truth is that we still don't know.

A Private Finance Initiative will possibly cover some of the cost - but certainly not all of it.

Amid all the uncertainty, one thing seems clear - the current building in Chamberlain Squaredoesn't have many fans in the city's hierarchy.

It was opened in 1974 and built by Moseley-bornarchitect John Madin, whose landmark buildings have been steadily disappearing.

Madin was responsible for the Post and Mail officesand the BBC's Pebble Mill studios which have both now been demolished.

His building for the Chamber of Commerce in Edgbaston is also under threat.

Prince Charles once famously remarked that the Central Library “looked more like a place for burning books than for keeping them”, but over the years it has attracted a number of admirers including the 20th century society who are campaigning to prevent its demolition.

Tom Hewitt of Reid Architecture and a former president of RIBA in Birmingham said he couldn't wait to see the back of it.

“It's very average stuff,” he said. “I wouldn't have any problem with knocking it down.

“As a library it's fine. But when you think of the contribution that it makes to the landscape and the people of Birmingham, it doesn't have much to offer.

“It used to be a really windswept open space, and now it's been enclosed, it's surrounded by a pile of commercial rubbish.”