City centre news for August 5:
- Jewellery Quarter art show is filled with rubbish - URBAN artist Scribbleffiti will unveil his debut collection created using reclaimed material from Birmingham streets in an exhibition at a coffee shop. Reclamation – An Exhibition of Urban Art, which runs until the end of the month, features the work of the Castle Bromwich artist, real name Carl Booth. The exhibition, which begins tomorrow at the Urban Coffee Company in Jewellery Quarter, is his first solo venture.
- Ring of steel to protect Lib-Dems from Birmingham demo – A RING of steel will be thrown around Birmingham’s International Convention Centre to stop anti-cuts protesters getting near deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrat colleagues next month. The stretch of Broad Street near the ICC and Centenary Square will become a virtual no-go area to protect Nick Clegg and his Coalition government colleagues from thousands of angry demonstrators during the Liberal Democrat conference, opening on September 18.
- Shoppers will be hit hard in the pocket if wholesale markets move out of Birmingham – SHOPPERS and diners were warned they would pay more for meat, fish, fruit and vegetables if the future of Birmingham’s wholesale markets was not secured. Customers using the historic site to buy stock for their own businesses said independent supermarket and restaurant customers would suffer if the markets closed down.
- Birmingham’s Gun Quarter name change row continues – Political leaders of Birmingham City Council are fighting a rearguard action in an attempt to defend their decision to abolish the Gun Quarter. Following a cabinet decision to re-name the historic gun making area the St George and St Chad’s Quarter, the council said it would be amending the Big City Plan to ‘more accurately reflect’ a far smaller gun quarter than the area traditionally associated with arms production for 250 years.
- Midland Metro scoops first passenger safety award – The Midland Metro has become the first tram system in the country to win a prestigious award for passenger safety and crime reduction. Judges from the Secured by Design organisation and the Association of Chief Police Officers have given the coveted Safer Tram Stop Award to six stops on the system, which is owned by transport authority Centro and operated by National Express.
- 55 Colmore Row set for revamp – Plans have been submitted to revamp 55 Colmore Row to make it the “premier business address in Birmingham city centre”. Plans have been put forward to extend and remodel the rooftop, replace the existing 1990s post-modern façade on the Barwick Street frontage, reconfigure floors and create a “high-profile” entrance foyer incorporating the historic banking hall. There would also be works to “improve and maintain” the listed Victorian Colmore Row frontage.
- Mum of murdered teen Letisha Shakespeare joins Gun Quarter debate – THE mum of a Birmingham teenager shot dead as an innocent victim of a gangland feud has called for the Gun Quarter name to be forever removed from the city. Marcia Shakespeare’s life was turned upside when her 17-year-old daughter Letisha was gunned down outside a New Year’s party in Aston in 2003.
- Birmingham City Council save town centre manager jobs but warn stores could close – FUNDING has been found to save the jobs of some of Birmingham’s town centre managers – but in other parts of the city shopkeepers are warning stores will go to the wall if action isn’t taken.
- The Bitter End opens in Birmingham tonight – THE owners of a newly refurbished basement bar in Birmingham were today adding the final touches to its transformation. The Bitter End opens tonight and is situated below The Hairy Lemon at The Square Shopping Centre. The aim is to make it renowned for its style, food and live music.
