TAXPAYERS have paid out nearly £300,000 to fix Manchester's beleaguered B Of The Bang sculpture since it was built.
And thousands more are set to be spent on legal fees as the city council prepares to take the makers of the 184ft tall work of art to court in a £2m compensation case.
The High Court hearing will begin on November 24 and is expected to run for 16 days.
B of the Bang - which cost £1.42m to create - was designed by Thomas Heatherwick to commemorate the 2002 Commonwealth Games. But the complex steel structure has been beset by engineering problems.
Nine of the distinctive steel spikes had to be removed after one of them fell off in 2006.
Papers obtained by the MEN under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation provide a breakdown of what the town hall has spent on attempts to make the structure safe.
£133,877.21 has been spent on getting consultant engineers Arups to supervise testing, investigate and inspect the sculpture.
£67,000 has been spent on further spike testing and reporting.
£32,588 was spent on inspections in January, July and August last year.
£27,000 was spent on the removal of spikes in May last year.
£11,000 was spent on the removal of spike for safety reasons in September last year and road closures.
£10,000 has been spent on safety fencing around the sculpture.
£340 was paid out to the Fire Service for the removal of a spike that fell off.
The total cost of maintaining the sculpture is put at £281,805.21
When asked in an FOI request `when will the B of the Bang be declared safe?', Des Gardner, Head of Regeneration said: "The B of the Bang is subject to regular monitoring and inspection, therefore ensuring the safety of the public at all times."
The city council is taking legal action against four companies, designers Thomas Heatherwick Studio, subcontractors Packman Lucas, Flint and Neil Partnership, and Westbury Structures, claiming breach of contract and negligence.
Inspired
The sculpture was inspired by sprint hero Linford Christie's claim that he won an Olympic gold by starting on `the b of the starting pistol's bang', and he was invited to the opening ceremony - two years late in 2005.
Before it opened the price had doubled from £750,000 to £1.42m because the winning quote to build it did not include installation.
The bulk of the money came from a European fund for deprived areas, with £120,000 of taxpayers cash used to prop up the project.
Then, days before Linford Christie was due to perform the opening ceremony in January 2005, a seven-foot spike fell off it. The accident prompted the closure of a nearby slip road, amid fears other spikes may hit passers-by and drivers.
Later that year a spike - supposed to withstand windspeeds of 100mph - was spotted swaying perilously in the breeze. Then, thieves stole a 30ft spike - and dumped it in Beswick.
Despite the fitting of 170 special weights and reams of engineers' reports the sculpture remains fenced off. If the council's lawsuit is successful, it will use the money to repair it.
Manchester City Council declined to comment because of the ongoing legal action.
Coun Simon Ashley, leader of the council's Lib Dem group, said: "I've thought the B of the Bang was a waste of money from the very beginning. Six years after the Commonwealth Games and it's still not safe and not sorted.
"It's supposed to be a symbol of how great the Commonwealth Games was but it's an embarrassment. The hundreds of thousands they have spent on repairing it could have been spent on frontline services. This is a clear example of throwing good money after bad."
A Manchester City Council spokesman said: "We are claiming all costs associated with B of the Bang, including those incurred since it was built, from the four contractors through the courts. Legal proceedings, which commenced in October last year, are continuing."
Click here to see a picture gallery of the B Of The Bang.
Comments
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Dismantle it; its an expensive eyesore which serves no purpose whatsoever.
This stupid monstrosity should never have been erected in the first place. The person or persons who sanctioned it in the first place should be answerable.
I hope the compensation is paid. It would represent the annual Council Tax of around 2000 households. Personally, I consider the needs of Manchester to be more important than a white elephant.
THe problem is that, in this country, when you get to a certain level, the normal rules do not apply.
If politicians or anyone sufficiently highly placed in business or local authorities etc makes a complete mess they get rewarded with a big pay off, inflation proof pensions, golden handshakes etc.
For us normal people, all we would get is a P45 and half an hour to get your things out of your desk/locker
Why is this?
Perhaps if these people were made more accountable less public and private money would be wasted.
The financial black hole that is the Olympics anyone??
I was SOOOO pleased when Manchesters bid to host it failed
If the council win the court case use the money to pull it down. If the council don't win the case pull it down to save any further expense.Is that to simple for the council, and my advice comes for free.
What a discusting waste of money.
Wonder how much my council tax bill is going to go up just to pay for that thing!
Blow the thing up - what a waste of money!
What a joke and why a 16 day trial ? It's not a murder case !
There is no way anybody is going to be able to repair the Big flop it is impossible I was one of the best engineers in Manchester along with many others. They will tell you the same. Melt it down,as would happen after a Big bang.Are they all fools? in your (Art department or works department).Tell them to get retired people to point out there failings and save alot of money for Manchester.
I bet the Fire Brigade are kicking themselves, judging by the other bills submitted! £340! Bargain! Next time charge £3400 to remove a spike, seeing as the council are quick to pay 1000s more of tax payers money just to keep this thing going!
Compensation in deed, for what a pile of junk.It is a very bad design and there is no way it was or is possible to weld or repair it in anyway what so ever. Let them explain to any engineer how the got in between the spikes to weld or secure them to any base whats so ever. s.robbo47
you think thats bad. the club next to it spent over £40 million.last year. and look at the shambles that's in.....
It was supposed to be an example of Manchester's pride, a shining Eastlands' landmark. But it's turned out to be a national embarrassment!
They've spent a fortune trying to put it right and each time you think it's going to be ok now; something goes wrong with it and everyone starts to blame each other!.....
And the 'B' of the Bang's not much better! :)
Championies, championes ole ole ole!
Mickeylove.... Bearing a GRUDGE!
In the last few weeks ive noticed that its lost yet more of its tips off the spikes.It needs demolishing to remove the future dangers to the public and the ratepayers need repaying back all the money that its paid out for this pile of scrap,and richard leese and the people who sanctioned this needs a inquiry..into wasting public money.
Thomas Heatherwick once gave a statement to the news that said the bang would still be here when we was all gone?well most of the bang has already dispeared already "Not much of a visionary" hehehehehehe lets hope his other pieces dont desolve as quick.
it just looks like a big piece of rust.
I as I have said in the past - why not just demolish it save a load of money in the long term and 'go' after the people behind it for the costs of the removal and the outstanding monies.
This "Sculpture" says nothing significant about Manchester - who voted for this? Were that taxpayers given a say? NO I think not, take it down, its not even a decent landmark. I lost my way in Salford and asked for directions, asked for the B of the Bang and received a stony silence, asked for directions to Walmart, oh yeah not a problem, so all that cash for that and its not even worthy of remembering. Take it down, put a couple of football players on a plinth and it will be remembered.
Drop it on Australia. From a great height!
I drove past last night and it looked worse than ever, even more spikes have been removed and it looks like an old brush with half its bristles missing. I did look fantastic but I now think it is time to completely remove it and put something else in its place so that the entrance to the stadium walkway can be accessed. Also the unsightly fencing which encroaches onto pavement and road is an eyesore. Imagine what the Rangers fans will think tomorrow....
As a symbol of Man City it appears to be just about perfect, fallling to bits and not fit for purpose.
So the poeple who agreed this su of money overlooked the cost of erecting this monstrosity ?
Sounds familiar doesn't it ?
I seem to recall that hte London Olympics committee forgot to budget for VAT and a few other things sending the overall cost spiralling out of control.
Why do we employ these morons to run our country and financial affairs ?
They cost us more money than we can afford.
Whilst this mess is sorted out in the courts, can we have this pile of Sh1te removed from the stadium
Take the thing down
its awful and put the money
towards something more useful like sorting the metrolink out
Melt it down and put up a statue of Bert Trautmann instead, based on that photo of him jumping to punch away the ball from Wolves' Peter Broadbent. Now that's a picture only a few of you remember.
I hope no Rangers fans will think that it will be a good idea to have a swing on one of the spikes. !!!
it is a ridiculous pile of rust.
and WE are still paying for it. DEMOLISH IT NOW.
oh, and i see that the Reds are having a good laugh,
so they should,
as only Manchester taxpayers have paid for it.
and as we all know, the reds come from much further afield than Manchester.