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Fall out over Library's future
Feb 18 2003
By Paul Dale, Birmingham Post
Two conservation groups are at loggerheads over the future of Birmingham Central Library, which is earmarked for demolition by the City Council.
The 20th Century Society insists the library is a fine example of 1970s local authority architecture and has asked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to declare it a listed building, effectively preserving it for the enjoyment of future generations.
Birmingham Civic Society, however, believes the building, in Chamberlain Square, to be "soulless" and not worth keeping.
Both organisations have been consulted by English Heritage, which is advising the DCMS on whether or not the Central Library should be declared a listed building.
If the DCMS agree, it will join the ranks of other listed landmarks in Birmingham including the Town Hall, the Victoria Law Courts, St Phillip's Cathedral and the New Street Station Signal Box.
English Heritage sent its recommendation to the DCMS on January 7, but the content of the report has not been made public.
The uncertainty is casting a shadow over the viability of city centre regeneration plans.
Demolition of the Central Library is key both to a £1 billion transformation of Paradise Circus and the development of Eastside, at Digbeth, as a learning and culture quarter.
Labour council leaders announced three years ago that all buildings in Paradise Circus would have to be demolished, including the library, Adrian Boult Hall and Conservatoire, the Copthorne Hotel and Government buildings.
In their place, a huge project involving the construction of high-quality offices and leisure facilities to service Birmingham's boom in the professional services sector is planned. Private sector investors are being sought to finance the scheme, but the council is yet to find a partner.
A new £130 million Library of Birmingham is to be built near to Millennium Point, at Eastside.
The Central Library, which opened in 1974, requires repairs and modernisation at a cost of £20 million. Even if the building was to be renovated it would not meet the requirements of a modern library, according to the council.
Eva Ling, Birmingham spokeswoman for the 20th Century Society, described the Central Library as "brutalist architecture".
However, it was important to retain such buildings because future generations would come to appreciate them. She said: "Houses built in the 1930s were dismissed as awful. But now, art deco is flavour of the month."
The John Madin Partnership, which designed the library, were pre-eminent Birmingham architects and it was important to retain examples of their work, she added.
In its evidence to English Heritage, the 20th Century Society argues that the unusual inward facing Central Library is both a "powerful" and "striking civic gem" that the city should preserve.
Glynn Pitchford, vice-chairman of Birmingham Civic Society, warned that a decision to list the building would have a disastrous impact on regeneration of the city centre and would threaten development of Eastside.
Mr Pitchford said: "Anyone who thinks the Central Library is of architectural or historical merit needs their head examined. This city needs that building to be listed like it needs a hole in the head."
Stephen Hartland, chairman of the Civic Society planning committee, said: "The plan to demolish the Central Library and build a new version elsewhere is the bedrock of the Eastside development. Eastside will fall apart if this does not happen."
