The Millennium Dome is to be transformed into a major music, entertainment and sports venue, it was announced today. The huge white tent in London's Docklands will house a 23,000-seat arena, the UK's first music hall of fame, an exhibition space and a series of smaller venues strung along an indoor street of bars and restaurants.
The Dome's American owner, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), will spending £500m redeveloping the site and, for the first 6 years at least, it will be renamed 'The O2'. Mobile phone company O2 has paid £36m to sponsor the entertainment venue. As part of the sponsorship deal the Dome (or The O2, as we are now expected to call it) will have the blue O2 logo painted on its roof, visible to airline passengers on the approach into Heathrow airport.
The re-developed Dome is expected to open in April 2007, two years later than planned. In addition to the area, it will have a 2200-capacity music club and a smaller music theatre and a 10-screen cinema, including the biggest UK venue for film premieres outside London's Leicester Square, all of which will be O2 branded. Even the ice on The O2's ice rink will be branded with the mobile phone company's logo.
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