Dome is renamed as phone firm strikes £6m-a-year deal
The rebirth of the Dome as a vast entertainment venue got under way yesterday as plans were announced to give Britain's most unloved tent an ice rink, restaurants and a new name.
The rebirth of the Dome as a vast entertainment venue got under way yesterday as plans were announced to give Britain's most unloved tent an ice rink, restaurants and a new name.
The £800m Millennium Dome complex on the Greenwich peninsula, which has been mothballed at a cost to the taxpayer of £14,000 a week since closing five years ago, will be known as The O 2 after the mobile phone company, O 2, struck a £6m-a-year sponsorship deal with the American billionaire who owns the site. The £500m redevelopment of the structure, owned by the American magnate Philip Anschutz and his conglomerate, Anschutz Entertainment Group, will see a series of self-contained facilities built inside the dome, including a 23,000-seat performance area that will host up to 150 music, entertainment and sports events a year.
By the expected opening in April 2007 the building will also feature 10 restaurants, eight bars, a museum of British music, a street of jazz and blues venues and a 10-screen cinema.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies