City of Culture sculpture could stay an extra year
BBCA sculpture erected to mark Bradford's year as UK City of Culture 2025 could remain in place for at least another year.
The 15m (50ft) tall Tower of Now, by Bradford artist Saad Qureshi, was installed in the Hall Ings pocket park in Spring 2025.
It had been due to be removed by May 2026 but Bradford Culture Company, the organisation which ran Bradford 2025 and commissioned the artwork, has applied for permission to extend the time it is in place.
A spokesperson for the group said they hoped the artwork would continue to "inspire and unite".
"This unique artwork has become a space for reflection, for people to come together and a focal point in the newly developed Norfolk Gardens," they said.
The sculpture is inspired by architecture from around the world, including mosques, temples, pagodas, synagogues and Bradford's gothic-style City Hall.
Bradford Council are expected to make a decision on the proposed time extension for the tower next month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The pocket park was created as a temporary feature before becoming a proposed new entrance way to Bradford Interchange, though no decision has yet been made on the long-term future of the bus station.
An application submitted to the council proposed the sculpture would remain in situ for an additional 12 months, with removal and site restoration to be completed by the end of May 2027.
"As there is no confirmed or imminent development proposal for the site within the proposed extension period, the continued temporary retention of the sculpture would not conflict with this purpose, nor would it result in harm to visual amenity or policy objectives," it said.
"The sculpture would remain fully reversible, temporary, and capable of removal should future development require it."
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