As a structure I like it and I am all for public art.

However, this has cost you and I (the taxpayer) TWO MILLION pounds. That is a lot of money.

If those who control the public purse wish to spend that then one would hope that they are getting value for money and that they dot every 'i' and cross every 't'.

However, the article says that 'Costs rocketing from £750,000 to £1.42m because the winning quote to build it did not include installation.

Someone didn't even check to see if the quote included installation so we had to stump up another £650k. I believe that it was originally supposed to be erected for the Commonwealth Games.

If you miss a months Council Tax I bet that they are after you straight away yet they can waste money in such a fashion and it's OK.

Take the thing down.

At last something positive,
don't spend the money on making it safe, just pull it down. It's an eyesore and will never be safe, save on the up keep, pull it down.
Put up a statue of Alan Turing anything but that piece of scrap iron.

What a waste of money, they could have used this money so that the residents in Beetham Hilton Towers could have room service and the use of the gym......according to my maths this structure cost £7,717.39 per foot to construct as opposed to Maine Rd, which cost £7.39 per foot and better value except on match days.

Really good way to spend the council tax eh? Still, nothing new there. Remember the "Nuclear Free Zone" that would have made all the difference in the event of an attack would'nt it?

Why pay 1.5 million for a monumental disaster that was to be left there to rust anyway. Give the pensioners in the locality the money to spend on heating costs, and council tax relief. No MCC dont look after thier own.

I'm all for this sort of thing (unusual) in and around Manchester, but given the costs up to now, someone at Manchester City Council needs sacking! We could have had something placed there at half the price and the rest of the money used to reduce council tax bills (even by a pound!) or place more bobbies on the beat. 2 million wasted is criminal. Some one must be brought to account for this!

The B of the Bang is rubbish. It is all rusty and looks terrible up close. Wasn't it originally a bright red colour? I shop at the nearby Asda and every time I pass it I am saddened that it still isn't right, considering that it is supposed to symobilise so much.

This totally undermines the case for public art.

The sculpture would be fantastic if it wasn't surrounded by fencing and that portacabin.

labour council are bad muppets and need a right good slap

m.e.n. website commenters need to go back to the daily mail website.

can someone at the m.e.n pls post this as a response on every article? it applies to every one I ever read.

ok thanks bye.

ben.

Now let us have a large reduction in our council tax bill to represent all the money we've paid into it that has been totally wasted on this project. I've not even seen it except in pictures.

It looks great but if it's not safe pull it down or move it to a dead area away from pedestrians and traffic. It is blocking the commonwealth games processional way that is now blocked up on match days. You couldn't write the script.

It looks stupid. FACT!

the b of the bang looks nice at night lit up but during the day just looks awful and rusty and to me does not represent anything except our council tax being thrown down the drain

the council will use the money to repair the sculpture,?
If the council repairs the band it will need permanant repairs and ongoing problems because of a problem with harmonics.The only way to solve the problem is to demolish it.Or they will have to keep putting those weights on the spikes to stop the sculpture shaking itself to bits..Resignations are in order.

MY TIME TO GLOAT i went on TV before the bang was installed and told them that the bang would suffer from these problems "Harmonics" Shaking itself to bits but nobody listened.The only responce was "Its been tested in a wind tunnel"?Well it didnt work did it.The council are stupid if they think for one minute they can repair this sculpture "They cannot" it would cost a fortune with ongoing repairs Etc .its better to remove the sculpture completely.

Right up close, I agree that it looks rusty.

But as a silhouette against the sky it looks incredibly striking.

this B of the Bang was a total waste of our money from the start its monsterous & looks like a rusty pile of old junk my 5 year old could have made something better than this, take it away & melt it down

You gloat ace, i remember your post and you were right.

come-on-city, how nice to be able to look at the world through rose tinted glasses,
the only thing "incredibly striking" about this chunk of junk is when one of those spikes falls off and flattens somebody.
TTFN

more arty farty rubbish. where's my taxi?

We could do one of three things:

1) Roll it to Trafford and fill in the tip at that Theme Park.

2) Melt it down for scrap, the value of scrap is good.

3) Paint it sky blue and release a flock of racing pigeons from nearby in an elaborate game of British Bulldog.

I personally like the B of the Bang, just wish it was finished or fixed and with some moody evening lighting. The only problems (Other than not being able to enter the ground that way) I see are that City will never be able to see a parachute display nearby and the rust is red in colour.

Pull it down- I get very nervous when driving past it !

looks very striking against the clear blue sky...reminds me of a palm..or a rusty firework ...
rust preserves a sculpture, paint doesn't....all foot bridges and many sculptures are rusty from the start these days...
looks potentially dangerous, wouldn't want to get too close on a windy day....
bottom line:
these things cost thousands...if council has disposable monies...would be very much better spent on something to improve society...a hospital, school, programmes....no shortage of places in need...

Ace,
the millenium bridge (blade of light?) in london was badly designed to start with, but after thinking about it, they made a good job of it. So give them a chance to get this one right.

Whether people appreciate it or not, it is eye catching and is now a symbol of the town. When the gateshead angel went up, people complained like crazy. Now the majority are proud of the angel, and rightly so.

The same with the London Eye, people moaned like crazy about it, and on their first attempt to install it, it fell over. They thought about it, tried again. Seven years later and it is something the cockneys are proud of and tourists want to see.

I'm not saying that tourists would want to go to eastlands to see the big bang. Perhaps moving it to old trafford would give it more credence and less complaints from the disadvantaged (blue) half of Gtr Manchester ;-}

It's ugly. it might have looked good painted gold but it's nothing but an overpriced rustbucket. Who gave the go-ahead for that amount of our money to be spent on it ?