Eccentric Jake Mangel Wurzel has branded Kirklees Council “destructive and cruel” for wanting to demolish the “folly” he built in Huddersfield town centre.
Jake, who was embroiled in a row with the council when he built the monument 14 years ago , said he “erupted in a tower of rage” when he was told the 9ft folly at the Civic Centre had to go because it had fallen into disrepair.
The 80-year-old likened the “heart-breaking” decision to knock it down to the controversial demolition of the iconic Lockwood clock tower at Mount Pleasant School.
Jake, of Lindley Moor, spent seven months and £400 building the folly in a corner of the Civic Centre precinct which he named Folly Court.
When Jake first built it in February 2004 it was 21ft high, but the council demolished it because it was put up without planning permission. Jake replaced it with a 9ft one and in May that year Kirklees said it could stay.
His sculpture – topped by a golden globe – conceals a concrete post left over from the 1960s when the civic centre was built. Jake himself worked on the civic centre scheme for a short while.
Jake said: “When I started it Kirklees had left this 3ft high ugly concrete stump which was unsightly and dangerous. They allowed that to stand. I did them a big favour and built my folly around it.
“Now they’ve decided that it has to come down – to make it disappear. It has done no harm for the last 14 years. It’s in a quiet little corner; it has been entertaining people. I also built a seat nearby which catches the sun as it rises above Civic Centre I.
They say they like the seat but the folly has to go.”
As Jake was being photographed by the folly a team of Kirklees workmen arrived to mend a broken slat on the bench.
Jake said he was told the folly was to be demolished because it was in a dilapidated condition, but added: “They should have told me it was getting into a bit of a state and given me a chance to restore it.”
He said he was willing to carry out repairs to “Joker Jake’s Civic Folly” but argued: “There are people in Kirklees just employed to make daft decisions. They don’t know the first thing about Huddersfield, its character and characters – eccentrics who have been here for hundreds of years.
“It’s unnecessary. It’s destructive and cruel.”
The Examiner has asked Kirklees Council to comment.
