Birmingham City Council has said the city centre fountains were turned off back in October 2023
Birmingham Centenary Square fountains at night(Image: flickr/ Manoo Mistry)
A key feature of a landmark Birmingham city centre space has not worked for more than 18 months – and the council cannot say when it will be back in action.
The fountains in Centenary Square have not been in use since October 2023. And no date for their return to action was put forward when we asked for an update this week.
The square’s new look was unveiled in 2019, with one councillor describing it as a “world-class public space where people can stop and take in the incredible things around them”.
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Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership said at the time it would “reinforce Birmingham’s status as a global city”.
Despite the square serving as a symbol of Birmingham’s recent transformation and ambition, the fountains in the “world-class” space have now been switched off for around a year-and-a-half.
A spokesperson for the city council said last September the fountains had not been operational since they were turned off to facilitate the Ice Skate Birmingham event in October 2023.
“Since then, scheduled annual maintenance was carried out, which found additional remedial work was required which is currently ongoing,” they continued at the time.
Asked for an update on the fountains this week, around eight months later, the council said an approvals process regarding spending was taking place and it was “expected” the fountains would be serviced and switched back on afterwards.
Centenary Square in 2020(Image: Graham Young / BirminghamLive)
It did not say when this could happen despite being asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) if they had a rough date.
“Currently there is Section 151 [finance] spend approvals process in progress,” a council spokesperson said. “After which, it is expected the fountain will be serviced and brought back into operation.”
‘This is not a trivial thing’
One Birmingham resident spoke to the LDRS recently about his growing frustration as the wait over the square’s fountains drags on.
“I do a lot of filming around Birmingham city centre and I have spoken to many families who are very upset about this fountain not being on,” Bernard Carroll said.
“They would meet up with other people and their children would have the most wonderful time there.
“They would tell me it is so important to them in these very difficult times because it doesn’t cost anything.”
He continued: “I just want to see the families back in Centenary Square during this exceptional weather we have been having.
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“I remember coming back two years ago – it was about 6pm on a glorious, sunny evening and there were about 600 people.
“They were having the most wonderful time because of the weather and they were all mothers with their children.”
“This is not a trivial thing,” he added. “I honestly believe this is very important for the beautiful people of Birmingham in this beautiful city.
“It certainly helps one’s mental health.”
Around six years ago, as the new-look square opened to the public, the council said the regeneration works were majority-funded by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, which awarded a £10.55m Enterprise Zone grant.
Additional funds were secured through Section 106 planning infrastructure levy (£1.2m) and city council funding (£3.8m).