Добро пожаловать в мир архитектуры. Сборник текстов на английском языке. Гвоздева А.А. - 18 стр.

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created to mark the turn of the millennium. Altogether it was a £2,000,000,000.00 invest-
ment.
The dome featured such exhibits as a walk-through body and a huge model of a beating
heart. Critics called it "crass" and overly politically correct. The dome is a showcase of the best
Britain has to offer the world. Unfortunately, not enough of the world is interested in what Brit-
ain has to offer to make the venture profitable.
As of February, 2001 it was expected to attract 5,000,000 visitors a year; less than half the
number needed to make the venture profitable, but still more than any other British tourist
attraction. Initial admission was pegged at £20, a price some considered prohibitive for
ordinary people, but one that the Millennium Commission decided was necessary to build the
structure without taxpayer money.
Even before the Millennium Dome opened the usual politicians chided the project as a
boondoggle. But the chorus of naysayers was joined by a list of rather rational people who also
smelled doom for the dome. It didn't long to prove them right.
12 to 17 million people were expected each year. The reality was far different. The dome
fell hundreds of millions of pounds short of its goal in short order. Dome defenders say it
brought a measure of prosperity to a bleak swath of land along the Thames. To be sure, the pro-
ject created 2,000 construction jobs plus thousands more to keep the affair running.
It also cleaned up and put to use 300 acres of contaminated real estate and brought billions
of tourist dollars south of the city. But its long-term impact has yet to be felt, and its merits still
debatable. In time we shall see if the Millennium Dome finally becomes a proud addition to the
London cityscape, or a faded memory of boondoggles past.
The fabric of the dome is designed to last 25 years.
October 1998 – The New Millennium Experience Company raises a public furor when it
tries to trademark the London skyline. They withdraw their application.
31 December 1999 – The Millennium Dome opens to the public.
4 March 2000 – Damien Nash becomes the 1,000,000th dome visitor.
May 2000 – The Dome gets a £29,000,000.00 loan from the National Lottery to continue
running.
July 2000 – An analysis by Price Waterhouse Coopers concludes the Dome is financially
insolvent.
September 2000 – The Dome gets a £49,000,000.00 loan from the National Lottery to
continue running.
November 2000 – A government report slams the dome's operators as too inexperienced
to run such a massive operation, and places the blame on NMEC's inability to control expenses.
December 31, 2000 – A crowd of 37,000 people attend the dome's closing celebration,
which is followed by a massive 12-hour rave on the grounds of the complex.
2001 – The British government tries to sell the dome. One consortium wanted to turn it
into a business park.
18 December 2001 – The dome lives! Virgin Radio reports that England’s Millennium
Dome will be turned into an entertainment and sports venue. The British government came to
an agreement with a multinational group of investors to lease the structure until the year 3000.
26 May 2002 – BBC Radio Five is reporting that the British government is considering a
plan to give the Millennium Dome away to a private company for free. In return, the govern-
ment would get a share of the operating profits.