Troubled London Dome bailed out again

Attractions like the Body Zone have failed to pull in the crowds

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain's Millennium Dome is to stay open to the end of the year after a commission agreed to pay out another £90 million ($127 million) in grants.

The commission decided that bailing out the failed attraction again was cheaper than closing it down.

The future of the Dome was thrown into doubt after the Japanese investment bank Nomura abandoned plans to take over the building at the end of the year on Tuesday.

Nomura's decision prompted the Millennium Commission, the government's funding body for Year 2000 projects, to look again at a £47 million bail-out it agreed earlier this month and a £43 million grant it made in August.

"It is now possible for the Dome to continue as an excellent visitor attraction until 31 December 2000 and for an orderly close of business to take place," a commission statement said.

"The bottom line is that it still costs more to close the Dome straightaway than to keep it open till the end of the year."

The Millennium Dome: open for business until December 31

But the opposition Conservative Party said: "By normal standards the Dome would be declared bust, bankrupt, broke, all washed up, finished, over, defunct. It is a Dead Dome.

"The decision to give it a semblance of life by injecting it with further lottery cash reflects only personal and political vanity."

The commission said it had taken into account the number of jobs that would be lost and the impact the Dome's closure would have immediately on regenerating the area and on contractors who were owed money for work on the Dome.

The New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC), which operates the Dome, welcomed the commission's decision.

"This period will also provide an opportunity for discussions with any other parties who may be interested in acquiring the Dome or its businesses," NMEC's executive chairman David James said.

Lord Falconer says he won't be resigning

The minister responsible for the Dome, Lord Falconer -- who refused to resign after Nomura's decision -- has said a fresh offer had been received from a losing bidder, Legacy Plc.

The Nomura-led consortium had agreed to pay £105 million ($157 million) for the building at Greenwich by the River Thames in southeast England, but pulled out after news last week that the Dome needed a £47 million ($66 million) bail-out, the fourth financial hand-out this year.

The chairman of the Nomura-led Dome Europe consortium, Peter Middleton, said the NMEC had misled his consortium over ownership of assets and had provided unsatisfactory information.

He told Reuters: "If the government invite us to the table once again, out of courtesy we will go. My thorough expectation is what we wanted to do at Greenwich we will now be doing in some other capital or other large urban centre in Europe."

The Dome houses a collection of millennium-theme exhibitions which have failed to generate mass appeal.

Projections for annual visitor numbers have been cut from an original estimate of 12 million to just 4.5 million for the year.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

London Dome deserted by Japanese bank
September 12, 2000
Millennium Dome: Worth the expense?
September 6, 2000
Greenwich Millennium Dome opens to public
January 1, 2000

Unofficial Dome site
The Millennium Experience

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