The iconic 1933 movie King Kong dubbed the giant gorilla the eighth wonder of the world, and while he’s synonymous with New York City, he’s been resurrected in the unlikely setting of Birmingham, to celebrate the Commonwealth Games.
It seems bizarre, but Kong’s origin story in England’s second-largest city started 50 years ago.
In 1972, local artist Nick Monro created a huge King Kong statue as part of a public art project.
It was only on show in Birmingham for several months before being sold off and is now in private hands.
Bringing King Kong back to life
But Marcus Hawley, founder and managing director of local property developers Cordia Blackswan wanted him back.
“For my entire life, while I’ve lived in Birmingham, people have talked about bringing him back, and it’s never really happened.”
So Hawley, who’s been dubbed “Mr King Kong”, and his team, who are used to building apartments, embarked on recreating the beast.
They spoke to Monro, now 86, to obtain the copyright for the statue, and scanned the original 1 metre-tall model, which was at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
A company called RoboCarv then brought it to life, bigger and better than before.
The statue is seven metres tall.
“We’ve had people from the community coming over saying it’s fantastic that we’ve got this now. It’s great to have a positive symbol for our community and something we can be proud of,” Hawley said.
“[We want to show that] Birmingham is about being playful and cultural and creative.”
It will stand in the re-named King Kong Park for the duration of the Games and will become a permanent fixture in the city once again.
There are also plans to build another replica to tour the world, with Kong’s spiritual home New York at the top of the list. And he might even make it to Australia too.
Heavy metal and diamonds in the rough
King Kong may be one of the quirkier attractions in Birmingham, but Brummies are proud of many other parts of their city.
It’s one of several places that calls itself the “Venice of the North” – it has more canals than the famous Italian city.
It’s the birthplace of heavy metal, with pioneers of the genre, Black Sabbath, forming here in 1968.
Famous chocolate brand Cadbury was also born in Birmingham, and it has its own Willie Wonka Chocolate Factory called Cadbury World.
And it’s a manufacturing paradise, nicknamed the “city of 1,000 trades”, with the sparkling Jewellery Quarter at the heart of it.
It has more than 100 specialist shops, and about 40 per cent of the UK’s jewellery is made here.
Local Jeweller Greg McLeary from Element Bespoke has been working in the district for 39 years and specialises in creating one-off pieces.
He says while the area is changing, with more residential apartments being built, it is still a unique place in the city.
“We can still get everything we need in this one area,” he said.
“You can buy the metal, you can buy the stones. It’s almost like an old fashioned marketplace where you’ve got everything you need to do a job.”
Locals embracing the Games spirit
Nicole Danielle is from London but has lived in Birmingham for three years.
The 32-year-old online fitness and nutrition coach and skipping instructor will be performing as part of events at King Kong Park, and she’s eager for the city to show its best side during the Games.
“When people think England-UK, you think London,” she said.
Local teacher Bronagh Cullen agrees.
“I think it’s going to generate a lot of interest and a lot more tourism into Birmingham that we’ve lacked probably during COVID,” she said.
“I’m a teacher and I’ve just done an assembly on the Commonwealth Games, and it’s all about the inclusivity of it all.
“I don’t think I fully appreciated that both para and non-para [sport] all run together.
The Opening Ceremony is on Friday morning at 4:45am AEST.
Discussion about this post