Some 186 projects are being carried out for the year 2000 in Britain but two dozens at least will not be completed in time. Many cities are preparing a facelift for the «Millenium Experience» with the Dome of Greenwich being the most ambitious architectural project in the United Kingdom.
The impressive dome, with a 365 metre diameter, would be able to contain a lying Eiffel Tower but columnists doubt whether its 14 attractions will be in working order by January 1st 2000.
On December 31st 1999 a party will be given in the presence of Queen Elizabeth in the Greenwich Dome, the construction of which would have cost US $ 1,2 billion. Still, the Tube line due to link London to Greenwich has suffered working delays and will not be opened before next June at the very best.
Meanwhile the inauguration of the 135 metre high «Eye» tower financed by British Airways erected on a bank of the river Thames was delayed on September 15th 1999 because of some technical problems regarding its stabilization.
Britain is now facing a race against the clock in order to achieve several projects but in some cases there has been no more hope of seeing them completed in time. The new Planetarium of Leicester and the International Life Centre of Newcastle will not be inaugurated before the spring of 2001, works for the new City Centre of Manchester will be finished in one year time while the Great Discovery Park of Liverpool and the new areas of Sheffield, Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham or Glasgow are still under construction.
Some 31 million visitors are expected to visit London next year after the city would have spent some $ 10 billion to renovate its urban outlook.
In Germany, the upcoming Universal Exhibition of Hanover has already been eclipsed by the renovation of Berlin where so many impressive buildings are being erected. Organizers of the Exhibition, due to open on June 1st 2000, fear that it will be simply viewed as a major trade fair while Berlin is prone to become the centre of cultural life in Germany.
In France, the Georges Pompidou Museum of Modern Art will be reopened on January 1st after extensive renovation works while the Guimet Museum of Asiatic Art will resume its activities in October 2000 but overall, only 400 million francs
(US $ 66 million) have been allocated as part of the Millenium project.
The Champs Elysée avenue in Paris will be transformed in a kind of fun fair area while many major exhibitions will be organised throughout the country.
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