UK Edition
How the Millennium Dome nearly became an old people’s home in Swindon
Surprising proposal was made amid New Labour’s desperation to offload landmark project that became a flop, archived documents show
The Millennium Dome could have ended up as an old people’s home on a disused air base in Wiltshire, newly released documents have revealed.
The original project, intended as the landmark celebration of the end of the 20th century, was an enormous flop that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds.
After it closed at the end of 2000, Sir Tony Blair’s government was desperate to rid itself of the project which, by its own estimates, was costing the taxpayer £1 million a month to maintain.
In March of 2001, documents from the National Archives have revealed, Lindsay Sharp, the director of the Science Museum, proposed moving it to Wroughton air base, four miles south of Swindon.
Dr Sharp wrote that it could be used to house numerous initiatives, including “a living residential community of the ‘third age’ ... leading to cross-generational volunteerism on site”.
“Third-age housing” is an architectural term that refers to developments aimed at older and retired residents.
Wide-ranging plans for the Dome in Wiltshire
As well as homes for pensioners, Dr Sharp claimed that the Dome could play host to an interactive sustainability museum, an exhibition on cosmology linked to Stonehenge, a sustainability research and development park and “a new kind of gardening exposition”, as well as a “permanent ‘interactive’ garden (based on human creativity and sustainability)”.
The plans did not stop there. Dr Sharp also envisioned a National Printing Museum, a tourist village, “a special school for visiting disadvantaged children” and a hotel.
Dr Sharp argued that moving the Dome to Wiltshire would be a powerful act of sustainability and emulate the Crystal Palace, which was moved from Hyde Park to South London after the end of the Great Exhibition.
Placing it on a former RAF base would be, he said, “a new twist on ‘turning swords into ploughshares’”.
The proposal from Dr Sharp was based on a government estimate that the land beneath the Dome would be worth more if it was demolished.
Downing Street unimpressed with proposals
Unfortunately for Swindon, Downing Street was unimpressed with the proposals. In a separate memo, Charles Falconer, then a minister in the Cabinet Office responsible for the Dome, wrote: “We are encouraging them to reconsider their proposals in the context of the Dome staying in Greenwich.”
That document included a number of businesses and institutions that Lord Falconer hoped might be convinced to bid for the Dome, including the BBC, Universal and the Virgin Group.
Ultimately, the Blair government failed to find a paying buyer for the Dome. Instead, it was sold to Meridian Delta, an entertainment consortium, for a nominal fee.
The Dome, designed by star architect Sir Richard Rogers, was meant to be a major extravaganza to mark the end of the 20th century.
However, the exhibitions within proved to be a failure and barely half of the expected 12 million visitors turned up.
It remained closed from Jan 2001 to June 2007, when it was relaunched as the O2 Arena.