Bang out of order
THE B of the Bang sculpture near Manchester City’s new ground should be fantastic.
Normally, I’m all for public art. What would Paris be without the Eiffel Tower? Look how the Angel of the North has put Gateshead on the map.
But Manchester’s daring sculpture has been dogged with problems.
It’s still surrounded by fencing, and local people are scared to walk underneath it in case another spike falls off.
Having been assured it would withstand high winds, one was blown off just before it was due to be officially “opened”. Its opening was 18 months later than first promised.
Linford Christie said he aimed to start his races not just at the bang of the starting pistol, but at the B of the bang, hence the sculpture’s name.
When I edited Metro News, I quipped that the project was so late, it should be called the G of the Bang, and wrote it in a headline. I’m ludicrously proud to see that my joke has made the B of the Bang’s entry on Wikipedia, along with local nickname, Kerplunk, named after the seventies children’s game.
Thieves even nicked one of the spikes at one stage.
And this all has come after its cost doubled from the original projected cost of £750,000.
Channel M News was contacted by a viewer last week, complaining about the general mess of the Bang, and saying he feared walking underneath it.
So my colleague David Henry went to east Manchester to investigate and it seems that viewer was not alone. Indeed, just about everyone David interviewed about the sculpture was opposed to it. Many avoided walking or driving near it.
I went past it on Sunday. It’s still fenced off and one of the spikes lies forlornly on the ground next to it.
It’s a shame. I like the idea of it. It’s just a shame its execution and construction have been so poor.
Often public art is criticised at the beginning as a waste of money. But soon – just like the Angel of the North – it becomes popular and a local symbol that inspires pride.
But no such change of heart seems to be happening for people who live in the shadow of the Bang.
David talked to New East Manchester – the body that’s doing other great things to rejuvenate the area – about it.
Amazingly, the people there told him they won’t rule out pulling the whole thing down.
That would be a huge shame. But I really cannot see a “Save the B of the Bang” campaign starting.