Millennium Dome: Worth the expense?

A view of the Millennium Dome and London's docklands

In this story: A pounding heart 'Swimming sperms' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Dick Durham, CNN.com writer

LONDON (CNN) -- It could contain the Eiffel tower, covers three times the area of Rome's Colosseum, has masts which list more than Pisa and if inverted would take Niagara Falls 10 minutes to fill with water.

But London's Millennium Dome is more famous for swallowing money than anything else. And its latest deluge of hard cash, $70 million (£47 million) has brought a barrage of criticism down on the "biggest roof in the world" as the company which runs it describes the fabric structure.

The money comes from the pockets of all those who play the U.K.'s National Lottery and to date the lottery has handed out $942 million (£628 million) since the Dome opened in January. It has also been given $64 million (£43 million) by the Japanese consortium, Nomura, who are buying the site which covers six acres more than the Great Pyramid at Giza, when it closes to the public at the end of 2000.

Yet despite the howls of fury from politicians of all persuasions, Europeans are enjoying their: "One Amazing Day" as the New Millennium Experience Company bills the cupola which could hold 1,100 Olympic sized swimming pools. Although they, too, have reservations.

Austrian secretary Martina Ampferer, a 29-year-old secretary from Innsbruck, said :" It's very good. My first impression of it was that it reminded me of the Epcot Centre in Walt Disney World in Florida. This is my first trip to London and I came straight to the Dome. I read about the money being spent on it but I didn't think about that."

Smiling Adama Daramy and her sister Fatmata emerging from the Body Zone

After visiting the Body Zone, the giant, androgynous, glassfibre Siamese twins which many see as the focal point of the Dome, Ampferer said: "I would not go with children in there, it is very loud it would frighten them."

But college student Adama Daramy, 17 and her five-year-old sister Fatmata, from Peckham, south-east London did not mind the noise.

"I liked the heart beat banging away especially the big crashing noise which I think is supposed to be the person suffering a road accident and having a pounding heart as a result," said Adama.

Her tiny sister added: "It made me jump but it was good fun."

Benst Jonsson, 41, a GP from Karlsbad, Sweden, agreed. "It was quite an experience. I think that it could be loud and noisy for children. I have heard that this Dome was paid for by your lottery money, which is like a form of tax. OK so it's not my tax, but I guess this will annoy some people."

The inside of the famous roof

His colleague Britt-Maire Brogrea, 50, also a GP from Karlsbad said she understood people might think the money would be better spent on hospitals, but had enjoyed her visit nevertheless. The couple paid $35 (£20 ) each to get in.

Anwar Hussain, a 22-year-old IT graduate from Manchester, England, said: "You come here and you're expecting 'wow it's wonderful', but I don't think it is that wonderful, there's not enough to see. People are queuing up for two hours to see the Body Zone and ,yes it's interesting you don't see it every day but they have seriously gone wrong with their marketing."

His partner Noreen Akhter thinks the money should be spent on the National Health Service.

Anwar Hussein and partner. They have different views about the Dome

Anwar added: "Yeah, well that's her view - you're always going to get people who say that , but I think what all this money is really saying is that the National Lottery has a lot to give away. They've got loads of money stashed away you don't just get £70 million out of nowhere."

Marion Gurller, a 26-year-old student mathematician from Munich, Germany, was angry at the news that to close the Dome would cost more than to keep it open because of the 2,000 jobs which would be lost and other closure costs.

"I speak with a lot of English people and they just don't see the point of this Dome. This money could have been spent on welfare or health care. It is really ridiculous that it is going to cost more to close it down than to keep it running. It just is not worth it. They really should have known beforehand that it was going to be a failure and they should have made that clear. They should have admitted 'OK let's stop it here.'

The Body Zone: focal point of the Dome

Her friend Simone Ludwig, also 26, a computer science student from Stuttgart, Germany was sold on the Body Zone: "It is really a nice idea and I think it was not bad inside."

Unemployed shop-keeper Alan Thompson, 59, from Wentworth, South Yorkshire, England was a little embarrassed by one part of the Body Zone: "I think I were up in roof when I saw the baby zone. You see these sperms swimming by but they don't tell you much about what happens. I suppose they've got to think of the children."

His friend Norah Gilbert, 54, from Barnsley, Yorkshire, England was equally as bemused. "I didn't realise it was going to be all computers. If you're not interested in computers you've had it."

And Elizabeth Chapman, 59, also from Wentworth, South Yorkshire, said: "When I were inside Body Zone I didn't know if I were in the arm or the chest. It would have been a good idea to have some signs."

Norwegian male nurse Thomas Helleren, 29, was interested to learn about the financial row surrounding the Dome. "We have the same argument in Oslo," he said, "there it is about the opera house which is to be built. And some people are saying the money should go on welfare, others that it would be a cultural advantage to have an opera house."

His friend Finn Granum, also a 29-year-old male nurse, said: "There are too many shops here where you can buy things. It cost us £20 to get in and we wanted to experience more not go to a giant shopping centre."

At Face the Future people were queuing up to have their photograph taken and then distorted to make them 40 years older. One woman on being told the "virtual ageing" was not available to those over 50, accused the operator of being "ageist."

She may be comforted to know she will last longer than the Dome itself which closes, at least as the Millennium Experience, at the end of the year.

British Parliament investigates Millennium Dome problems
January 5, 2000
Greenwich Millennium Dome opens to public
January 1, 2000
Millennium Dome tickets go on sale
September 23, 1999
Detour | 11/15/99
Europe welcomes 2000 with dazzling light displays
December 31, 1999

Greenwich 2000: Millennium Dome
Greenwich 2000: Millennium Exhibition - The Budget for The Dome
Greenwich Tourist Attractions - Millennium Dome, Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark, Royal Observatory and lots more.
Millennium Dome, Greenwich - Official LondonNet Site
John Laing: Construction: The Millennium Dome

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