| The Dome Opens - Photo: Oliver Strange Agency |
Well, they've finally been and gone and done it! At a real cost of somewhere between £1.6 billion and £2 billion (despite Government denials), the Millennium Dome unlocked its turnstiles and started taking £20 a head off the punters; except for those who got in free or at a concessionary rate and, of course, the vast army of official Government guests led by Heritage Minister Pierson McAndelsen, Dome Secretary Dame Alice Wrathe and, of course, Dome Minister Lord Hawksbane.
So what's it like in there? Reactions varied from: "Big and awesome!" to: "You could wear your shoes out looking for something interesting in there." I suppose the most charitable summary is that it's worthy, grand, more educational in a tedious sort of way than entertaining, apart from the people whizzing about on trapezes and wires, and the toilets are clean.
So, there is it. All we have to do now is find out if the public think they've had value for money or the politicians have given us another white elephant.
Items picked out by members of the public from a list of Things which would have given better value for the money spent on the Dome:
- £1,000M = 100 new secondary schools
- £700M = 10 new hospitals
- £53M = a Eurofighter
- £50M = 10 Challenger tanks
- £25M = 1,000 kidney dialysis machines
- £10M = 1,000 heart by-pass operations
- £7M = 1,000 hip-replacement operations
- £3M = 1,000 cataract operations
filed by Dana Howmaj [d.howmaj@md.news.uk]
The Millennium Experience consists of the 14 zones inside the Dome itself plus further events in satellite mini-domes. For what is going on in the satellite domes, check the local press or the website for A New Millennium Dawn which can be found at:
http://www.anmd.org
The zones inside the dome are arranged in an Outer Ring and an Inner Ring, which surround the central display area where the New Millennium Show can be seen. There is an information point at the South Entrance, between the UK Image and Spiritual Zones, and 5 further information points spread equally around the Dome's Outer Ring of Zones.
Click on the links below for information on the content of the Outer Ring Zones 1-9, and the Inner Ring Zones 10-14 and the New Millennium Show.
| OUTER RING ZONES | | INNER RING ZONES | |