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Convention Centre & Broad Street - historic photos

This is View 30 picture 2 and was taken in March 2010.

The building in the foreground has been renovated (the Malt House pub is behind it).

You can clearly see Brindley Place (and the Sea Life Centre) in the distance.

And although neither can be seen, the ICC is on the left, and the NIA is on the right.

View 30 Picture 2) View from King Edwards Road looking roughly South
View30Picture2.jpg
 
More historic pictures of Brindley Place and Broad Street being redeveloped in the 1980s and 1990s

Getting very near the end now, only 1 more set of photos left to post after this one below.

This is view 31 and only one picture in this set. This is View 31 picture 1 and was taken in December 1989.

This is from Gas Street basin, looking towards Broad St. You can see them renovating the buildings in the foreground, with the Convention Centre in the background, and the Hyatt Hotel on the right.

This is almost the same view as View 13 (in fact I wish I had posted it as View 13 Picture 3, although the view is not exactly the same).

View 31 Picture 1) View from Gas Street basin
View31Picture1.jpg

And here is the up to date view taken from Google maps.

Arrow shows where I was standing and what direction I was facing.

View 31 Map 1.JPG
 
I said in my post above, that I only have one View left to post.

But I have to say the view I have left is probably the most amazing "before" and "after" shot I have posted in this whole thread.

In the view I have left to post, the original photograph was taken in 1986, and when I went back to take the "after" shot a few years ago I could not believe it was the same place.

I will post the last two photos tomorrow.

I have saved that view till last so I can go out on a bang, so sorry to string you along, but I want to end with a "big finish".
 
I said in my post above, that I only have one View left to post.

But I have to say the view I have left is probably the most amazing "before" and "after" shot I have posted in this whole thread.

In the view I have left to post, the original photograph was taken in 1986, and when I went back to take the "after" shot a few years ago I could not believe it was the same place.

I will post the last two photos tomorrow.

I have saved that view till last so I can go out on a bang, so sorry to string you along, but I want to end with a "big finish".
The drum roll is already playing

Bob
 
This is the last "View" in my series

This is view 32 and only two pictures in this set. This is View 32 picture 1 and was taken in November 1986.

This picture was taken in St Vincent Street , looking South, towards Broad Street. For those that don't know where that is, it is at the "back" of the National Indoor Arena, near the Northern end of Sheepcote Street. The four large buildings in the background are all either on, or very near, Broad Street.

In the foreground is where the canal "splits".

The left hand canal goes under Sheepcote Street (you can just see the bridge), then alongside the NIA, and comes out by the Sea Life Centre and Malt House pub. You can see what the canal looks like the OTHER side of Sheepcote Street in View 20.

The right hand canal is the "loop" that comes out further down Sheepcote Street, by the Crescent Theatre and Brindley Place. It then joins up with the other canal in front of the Sea Life Centre (near the roundabout in the middle of the canal). You can see what this canal looks like the OTHER side of Sheepcote Street in View 23.

View 32 Picture 1) View from St Vincent Street looking South
View32Picture1.jpg
 
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This is the last photo in my series of "views", I hope you have all enjoyed my series of before and after photos.

This is View 32 picture 2 and was taken on April 11th 2010.

Look at picture 1 above, what a transformation !

Now you know why I wondered if it was the same place.

You can tell by the position of the canals, the bridge on the right, and you can just see the top of the two large buildings in the distance on Broad Street.

View 32 Picture 2) View from St Vincent Street looking South
View32Picture2.jpg

Here is a view from Google maps showing where I was standing and the direction of the photo

View 32 map 1.JPG
 
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Another NEW photo to show how much the Broad Street area of Birmingham is changing.

Earlier I posted my View 11 from 1987 or 1988 looking West along Broad Street.

Here it is (you can see the Brasshouse on the right waiting to be developed):
BROAD 1.jpg

But just a week ago I went up there again and took this photo below from roughly the same position. Again you can see the Brasshouse on the right.

But you can now see the HUGE building in the distance being built on Broad Street.

This is called The Bank and is the tallest apartment block in Birmingham
BROAD 2.JPG

For those that are not sure where it is see this small image below.

The red arrow shows where I am standing and which direction I am pointing for the photo (looking West along Broad Street).

The blue arrow shows where the building is, on that small plot in the middle of the road.

It is where Broad St meets Sheepcote Street and Oozels Street. It is right next to the Novotel hotel.
BROAD 3.JPG
 
guilbert53 that was, and remains, a mammoth undertaking .... and, poetically, one that records another one!

The regeneration of the individual canalside areas and the emergence of the greater Brindley Place scheme as they all connected was I think never really appreciated because of the out-of-the-way nature of the location running back from behind the frontages of Broad Street. That very impressive reality however, and the scope of what actually had to be achieved for it all to happen, is magnificently presented in your excellent archive! One mahoosive "Appreciate" for that.

Plus as a bonus, in a couple of the "before" photos I can easily see my old office window in Bush House, a building built to a setback line to accommodate a road widening scheme that never materialised, that in the Summer months particularly led to a running battle with the tyre-fitting place on the opposite corner of Cumberland St that had Radio One on vol 11 for the whole day, and that I thought had neither style nor merit at the time but now when I pass the hotel that replaced it ...

TQ
 
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