47on theplanet”.Under thesupervision of
PeterMandelson,theNewMillennium
ExperienceCompany(NMEC), asthe
Domecompanyhadbeenrenamed, gave
designersabriefthatconsistedmostly of
open-endedquestions.Forthebodyzone,
theyincluded “Arewewhatweeat?” and
“What aboutdesigner people?”
Soonthere were14 zones, eachdesigned
byadifferent company–inadditiontoa
spectacularperformanceinvolving 100
aerialgymnasts totakeplaceinthe central
space.To give the experiencecoherence,
designconsulta ntStephenBayleywas
draftedin –butsixmonthslater,heleft
again,afterhisproposalsweredeemedtoo
highbrow.“Hewassothe wrongperson,”
one insidertoldme. “Hesatin one ofour
meetingsreadingProust.”Eventually, Page’steam cameup with
something calledthe LitmusGroup tooversee content, composed
ofculturalluminariessuchasAlan Yentob andMichaelGrade.
Meanwhile, Mandelson soughtinspiration atDisneyWorld,in
Florida,wherehe tried toavoidbeing photographed inthe same
frameasMickeyMouse.
Prototypesof sixzones wereunveiledat alaunchonLondon’s
SouthBankinFebruary 1998. “This isachancetodemonstrate
thatBritain willbeabreedingground forthemostsuccessful
businesses ofthe 21st century,”Blair toldthe audience. But the
launchdidnotgodownwell.Everybodyfound theirown
problemwith it:itwastoopolitical,insufficientlyhistorical,too
populist,ascandalous wasteofmoney. Sinceit wasagovernment
project, tightcontrolswerekept
on what thoseinvolved could
say.Everyonewasbriefedon the
“linetotake”(LTT).It consisted
offourcentralmessages:“It’s
the people’sshow.It’sthe
mostexcitingexperienceofthe
millennium.It’sgood forBritain.It’sgoingwell.”
InJune 1998 ,the final pieceof fabricwentupon the Dome’s
ten-hectare roof,andthoseinvolved stood awestruck beneath
its complete canopyfor the first time.TheDomeis huge;weather
systemswouldforminside ifitweren’tforits Teflonroof.Beneath
thatroof, however,allwasnotwell.Political advisers clashed
with zonedesigners,astheyattempted toensure the content sent
therightmessagesabout Blair’sBritain.Pleasingsponsorswas
ofparamountimportance.Butwhatdesigners,politiciansand
sponsorsallwantedwasoften incompatible. The play zonewas
initiallypaired with Sky.“Itwashopeless,”onedesignertoldme.
“Theysaidtous, in averyaggressive way, the future ofplay is
about digitaltelevision,becaus ethat’s whatthey were launching.”
Zaha Hadid’smind zone wassponsoredby arms companies
MarconiandBAE Systems.Six months before theopening,details
of all14zones were finally made public. Themoneyzoneinvited
gueststo“go onamillion-poundspending spree”with virtual
cash. Thebodyzone wouldallow visitorstowalkinsideahuman
body, completewith animatronic pubiclice. Nozonecaused more
controversy than thefaithzone, whose non-denominational
designmet with outcry from religiousleaders worried that the
Dome’scommercialisedenvironmentwould makeamockery of
religionitself. “IsRupert Murdoch’s name going to appearon
the mangeratBethlehem?” askedtheBishopof Woolwich.
Final preparations were chaotic.Afew weeksbefore theopening,
TimPyne wasworking ontheworld’s largest billboard–aphoto-
graph of Richmond Park, as wide asaBoeing 747,for the learning
zone.Itwas beingprinted ataspecial facilityinIceland becauseof
its huge scale.Theprinterscalled to ask whetherthenaked man
in th ewoods,visi bleinthe full-sizephotograph,was adeliberate
inclusion. Pynehadtomakeclear it was not, and that thewhole
billboard wouldneedtobereprinted.
What wasthemood like inthoseweeks?
“I think Iprobablyhadabreakdown,”
saidPyne.Somerememberenjoyingtheexhibition,
whenit threw openits doorsto thepublic
on 1January2000.Butturnoutwaslow.
In its first month,theDomewelcomed
fewer thanhalfthevisitorsneededto
break even. Pagewasaskedtoresign–
unfairly,accordingto many.By aimingfor
12 million visitors,the company behind
theDomehad createdimpossiblecriteria
–thecombine dnumber ofticketssold for
AltonTowers,MadameTussauds and the
LondonEyein 2000 waseightmillion.AfterPage’sresignation, themanhired
tolimitdamage wasP.Y.Gerbeau,aninfectiouslyoptimistic
ex-Euro Disneyexecutivewhomnewspapersnicknamed“the
Gerbil”.Hereduced prices,andbr oughtinafunfairto s elltickets.
ButonesetofvisitorstheDomecouldhavedone without was a
gangofwould-bethieves,whoinNovember drove aJCB digger
intotheside ofthebuildinginafailed attempttostealthe
MillenniumStar,alargegemstonethatdiamondcompanyDe
Beers hadcontributed tothemoneyzone.TheDomeclosed,with
littlefanfare, on31December.Months earlier,Blairhadadmitted
on BBC1’sBreakfastwith Frostthat:“IfI’dknownthen whatI
knownowaboutgovernmentstryingtorun avisitorattraction–
it wastooambitious.”The Domelayempty,aruin beforeitstime, for18months while
thegovernmentstruggledto find
itafuture–until,inMay2002,
the USentertainmentcompany
AEGsteppedinto purchasethe
building.Thedealwas thatAEG
wouldinvestmanymillionsinto
redevelopingthesiteas amusic
venue,latertobe named theO2 Arena,andgive thegovernment
15%of its profits.Thesiteitselfwassold for£1.The O 2 Arena
openedin 2007, andhasbeenthe world’smostpopularmusic
venueeversince.Mike Davies’s versatile buildingadapted well
to its newpurposes.Apart fromthe20,000-seat music andsports
venue,theDome nowhouses ashoppingcentre, atrampoline
park andabowlingalley.The O2’spopularity isthethingthose
involved inthe MillenniumExperienceare most keen toempha-
sise. It’s a“brilliantsuccess”,Mandelson told meanumber of
times. Butthe Domealsogave somebadlyneedednewlifeto the
Greenwichpeninsula,whichhadbeenempty ofbuildingsand
covered withtoxicsoilfrom adefunctgasworks. Today,theland
is detoxified, luxuryflats are being built–and though unemploy-
mentremains high,jobshave been created forlocal people.Thesedays, theDomeisr emembered asawhite elephant.But
pollsatthe time showedthatasmanyas90% of thesix million
visitors enjoyed themselves–childreninparticular loved it.Its
creators set outto provideanexper iencethat would unitethe
country. Inaway, they succeeded. Thereissomething typically
British in our collectiveenthusiasm for enshrining the memory
of theDomeasbeing abit shit–bethatmemoryaccurate or not.
It may well bethat thissame sort ofnational unityindisdain will
repeatitself in the near future. In 2018, TheresaMayannounced
plans fora£120m “FestivalofBrexitBritain” –showcasing the
UK’s talentin“business,technology, artsand spor t” in 2022.
Planning is go ing ahead, andthe f estival’shead, Martin Green,
expects to announceaprogramme by theendof2021.“Oh for
God’ssake,”said H eseltine, rollinghiseyes when Imentione dthe
festival.“Put it inDoverand e veryone can go before they leave.”Alongerversion of this articleappeared in The Guardian.
©Guardian News&Media 2020.The long read4April 2020THE WEEKBlairwithGerbeau:someDisneynousfortheDome“These days, it is remembered asawhite
elephant. But polls at the time showed 90%
of the six million visitors enjoyed themselves”