Countdown to the millenium

It was, we were told, on time, on budget, on target''. With 400 days to go before its opening night, some of the secrets of Britain's Mill...

It was, we were told, 8220;on time, on budget, on target8221;. With 400 days to go before its opening night, some of the secrets of Britain8217;s Millennium Dome were finally revealed. But as details were released, the project was dealt a blow when a committee of MPs was told that Underground trains may not start running from central London to the Dome until 11 days before the exhibition opens. Gerald Kaufman, the chairman of the Commons culture committee which grilled the chief executive of London Transport, said this meant that the line would not be open until December 21.

With Dome details revealed, one of the biggest talking points about the controversial 8211;758 million structure in Greenwich was finally laid to rest. What started life as a giant baby crawling towards its mother, and metamorphised into a childless, androgynous figure, has now emerged as the Body zone 8212; two giant reclining figures, the male with its arm draped around the female.

8220;We are absolutely ahead of where we needed to be at this stage,8221;said the New Millennium Experience Company8217;s non-executive director, Michael Grade. 8220;Progress has been steady and well managed.8221;

The Body zone is to be sponsored by Boots the Chemists, one of a series of sponsorship deals involving high street and blue chip names which organisers claim bring the total sponsorship raised to 8211;120 million 8212; twice the amount ever raised before by a sponsorship funded event in the UK.

Other sponsors announced by organisers include Marks amp; Spencer, putting 8211;12 million into the National Identity zone; BT, which has put the same amount into the Communicate zone; and McDonald8217;s which has pledged 8211;12 million to a special project, Our Town Story, billed as a Domesday Book for the 21st century. Other partners, who have each pledged Acirc;pound;6 million, include the electronics giant GEC, airports operator BAA, British Airways and British Aerospace.

There is some concern over Baby Dome, a rectangular structure. The auditorium, which will contain two 2,500-seat cinemas, still does nothave an architect. But some of its content has been decided, including a 30-minute film celebrating British humour.

Other details were slightly more cerebral. The Mind Zone, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, is a steel and plastic structure, where visitors will see how brain imaging can show which areas of the brain respond to different senses, and will demonstrate the brain8217;s powers of recovery. The Body Zone architect, Nigel Coates, said he had gone back to basics for the design. The design, which is reminiscent of work by sculptor Barbara Hepworth, was informed by Etruscan tomb statues.

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But away from the plans, the world of politics intruded on the optimism as Gerald Kaufman criticised London Transport for Jubilee Line delays.