Blues fans upset over Aston Villa colours at £189m library
It is the newest landmark on the second city skyline – and it has not taken long for controversy to hit the £189 million Library of Birmingham.
The building has stoked the fires of city rivalry after being given an Aston Villa makeover for Christmas. Birmingham City supporters are less than impressed.
The prestigious new building in Centenary Square, which welcomed its millionth visitor just 100 days after opening, will be bathed in the famous claret and blue right up until New Year's Eve, when a giant firework display will take place from the roof.
The makeover was agreed between club and library chiefs, in a deal which will include Villa providing numeracy and literacy workshops for visitors in the new year.
Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner, who is also a trustee of the Library of Birmingham Trust, said: "We're delighted that the Library of Birmingham approached us about this collaboration and we were only too happy to agree.
"The Library of Birmingham really is a striking focal point in a burgeoning city landscape and we're thrilled it will be even more eye-catching now as it adopts our famous club colours."
However some Birmingham City supporters took to Twitter to express their displeasure. James Cash wrote 'Would have been better in blue & white – Birmingham library given Aston Villa makeover for Christmas', while Gabriel Sutton posted 'Just seen the Birmingham library has been painted claret and blue in Aston Villa theme. This stinks. #bcfc'.
Tourist bookings for Birmingham have increased by 118 per cent for the Christmas and New Year period, according to the booking agent Expedia, with the latest figures showing that the city is the most popular option for Britons staying in the UK – and is the fastest-growing anywhere in the world.
The library is seen as one of the major reasons for the uplift along with revamped New Street Station, the German Christmas Market and the Bullring.
