Looks Who's Talking: Media vision of Dome is quite wrong

THIS week I finally made it to the Dome, courtesy of being a helping dad on a school trip.

I had expected it to be the much-trumpeted waste of money. I had expected it to be bigger. I had expected it to be tackier. In fact, practically every impression I had from the incessant media demolition job turned out to be wrong.

I had charge of six highly-energised young boys which, being a father of girls, was a heady and informative experience, so I spent less time than I would have liked soaking up the experience myself. No complaints, that was the nature of the day. The Dome had not, to be honest, been too high on my list of wannagos. So first lesson learned - always make up your own mind.

The worst bit was the hassle getting from High Wycombe to the south end of the Blackwell Tunnel, immediately above which crouches the Dome, something that I had failed to glean from all the publicity. I am sure that the disinclination of the millennium citizen to visit the attraction is partly due to its location in the south east of London. More than 90 per cent of the country have to negotiate the metropolis and all its transport implications to visit it.

Admittedly, I have the benefit of hindsight but surely it would have been better to build the thing in the Midlands somewhere. Here, despite the very laudable conservation message repeatedly exemplified within the Dome, the unconverted majority could have come in their millions by road, if they chose, to enjoy what I consider a vary valiant, well-intentioned and predominantly successful experience. The quality and content of the zones is variable and I didn't get to see them all, sadly. But what I did see has made me determined to return with my family and enjoy it all in a more leisurely way.

The show in the central arena is quite simply spectacular. My heart went out to the performers and indeed all those who work at the Dome, to have had to soldier on magnificently on a daily basis in the teeth of all the cynicism and politically opportunistic knocking that has, only with slight justification, dominated the media.

In fact, the same Government that is being resolute on petrol prices should, I believe, show the same resolution in defending at least the idea and intentions of the creators of the Dome, if not the budgetary failures. It is not the event and experience itself that has deterred visitors.

It is the price of admission, the siting and all that adverse publicity.

For me, there were deficiencies in organisation, particularly information and sign-posting, which were surprising given the Disney expertise drafted in.

I loved Home Planet, Journey and Talk Zones. The children loved Timekeeper and Play Zones. The structure itself is startling, impressive and very big, despite my inflated expectations of its size. Whilst acknowledging the cost to the nation within the context of the funding demands for education and health, we should be allowed to celebrate every 50 years or so.

But it is a great shame to think that the future of the structure could not have been pre-programmed into the vision, the planning and budgeting, so that all that effort, expertise, imagination, inventiveness and very hard work could not have been more than a one year wonder. I hope it's there long enough for a second visit.

0Looks Who's Talking: Media vision of Dome is quite wrong

THIS week I finally made it to the Dome, courtesy of being a helping dad on a school trip.

I had expected it to be the much-trumpeted waste of money. I had expected it to be bigger. I had expected it to be tackier. In fact, practically every impression I had from the incessant media demolition job turned out to be wrong.

I had charge of six highly-energised young boys which, being a father of girls, was a heady and informative experience, so I spent less time than I would have liked soaking up the experience myself. No complaints, that was the nature of the day. The Dome had not, to be honest, been too high on my list of wannagos. So first lesson learned - always make up your own mind.

The worst bit was the hassle getting from High Wycombe to the south end of the Blackwell Tunnel, immediately above which crouches the Dome, something that I had failed to glean from all the publicity. I am sure that the disinclination of the millennium citizen to visit the attraction is partly due to its location in the south east of London. More than 90 per cent of the country have to negotiate the metropolis and all its transport implications to visit it.

Admittedly, I have the benefit of hindsight but surely it would have been better to build the thing in the Midlands somewhere. Here, despite the very laudable conservation message repeatedly exemplified within the Dome, the unconverted majority could have come in their millions by road, if they chose, to enjoy what I consider a vary valiant, well-intentioned and predominantly successful experience. The quality and content of the zones is variable and I didn't get to see them all, sadly. But what I did see has made me determined to return with my family and enjoy it all in a more leisurely way.

The show in the central arena is quite simply spectacular. My heart went out to the performers and indeed all those who work at the Dome, to have had to soldier on magnificently on a daily basis in the teeth of all the cynicism and politically opportunistic knocking that has, only with slight justification, dominated the media.

In fact, the same Government that is being resolute on petrol prices should, I believe, show the same resolution in defending at least the idea and intentions of the creators of the Dome, if not the budgetary failures. It is not the event and experience itself that has deterred visitors.

It is the price of admission, the siting and all that adverse publicity.

For me, there were deficiencies in organisation, particularly information and sign-posting, which were surprising given the Disney expertise drafted in.

I loved Home Planet, Journey and Talk Zones. The children loved Timekeeper and Play Zones. The structure itself is startling, impressive and very big, despite my inflated expectations of its size. Whilst acknowledging the cost to the nation within the context of the funding demands for education and health, we should be allowed to celebrate every 50 years or so.

But it is a great shame to think that the future of the structure could not have been pre-programmed into the vision, the planning and budgeting, so that all that effort, expertise, imagination, inventiveness and very hard work could not have been more than a one year wonder. I hope it's there long enough for a second visit.

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