Tribute to man who reshaped city in 1960s Ex-council leader played major role in creating Bull Ring, Mac and ring road
AFORMER council leader and Lord Mayor who played a major role in the post-war transformation of Birmingham has died at the age of 95.
Sir Frank Price is perhaps most closely associated with the development of the inner and middle ring roads, the original Bull Ring shopping centre, the expansion of council housing and creation of the Midlands Arts Centre – now Birmingham Mac – in Cannon Hill Park.
Born in 1922, he was raised in the back-to-back slum houses and rose to become Labour council leader, a property developer and knight of the realm.
The politician also oversaw the development of Telford new town as chairman of the project board and was a long-serving chairman of the British Waterways Board.
He had retired to Spain where he died peacefully at Almeria Hospital on December 30 following a battle with Alzheimer’s.
City historian Professor Chinn paid tribute to Sir Frank.
He said: “Frank Price came from the back streets of Hockley and he never forgot where he came from or the loyalty that he owed to his own people.
“Elected to the council in 1949, he would become one of the most important figures in post-war Birmingham and was knighted in 1966 when he was Lord Mayor. For all this Carl honour and others, he remained true to his roots. As a politician Sir Frank was determined to improve life for the working class of the city – not only through redevelopment but also through provisions for culture and leisure.”
Sir Frank was raised by his mother Lucy and three brothers in the notorious back-to-backs of inner-city Birmingham, where 11 families shared a single outside tap and a single toilet. He was a keen boxer in his teens and left school at 14.
After a brief spell with the Communist Party he moved to Labour and was elected councillor for St Paul’s ward in 1949 at the age of 27. In 1958 he moved to Kings Norton ward which he represented until 1974. As chairman of the public works committee, he worked closely
As a politician Sir Frank was determined to improve life for the working class of the city.
with chief planning officer Sir Herbert Manzoni on a series of major projects including the inner and middle ring roads and the Bull Ring.
Later in his political career, from 1971 to 74, he was a member of the NEC development committee.
Sir Frank, working with playwrights Jon English and Mollie Ran- dle, also developed the Midlands Arts Centre (Mac) in Edgbaston’s Cannon Hill Park which was opened in 1964. He was knighted at the age of 46 during the Wilson government and was later commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant (DLs) for Worcestershire.
He left local politics in 1974 and became the longest serving chairman of a nationalised industry, running the British Waterways Board. Around the same time, he was appointed chairman of Telford in Shropshire, creating the new town by merging Wellington, Oakengates, Madeley and Dawley and building on the agricultural land in between to establish the fastest growing town in the UK.
In business, he developed office blocks and shopping centres in Lon- don, the north of England and New York with Murrayfield Developments Ltd before founding Alexander Stevens Ltd in Birmingham and building the ATV studios among other impressive schemes around the UK.
His colleague at Murrayfield was the Second World War commander Field Marshall Claude Auchinleck, whose statue stands on Broad Street near to the site of the old Five Ways Shopping Centre built by the firm.
Sir Frank divorced in his 50s and retired to live in Mojacar, south-east Spain, in his late 60s.
He leaves his ex-wife Maisie and only son Noel, who said: “He was a charming, funny, hardworking and generous man, a socialist to his last breath and loved dearly by all. I was proud to be his best friend, as well as only child.”
Historian Carl Chinn