To read this article in Deutsch, Francaise, Italiano, Portuguese, Espanol, copy and paste the complete URL("http://www.g21.net/welsh2.htm") and enter it in the box after you click through.
| The World's Magazine: g21.net
Event #142: Hall of Mirrors 
LAST WEEK's EDITION Still working that List? Why not visit the G21-Barnes&Noble.com Holiday Gift Shop? |
However it's also inevitable that public money will have to be shelled out for this venture. In the UK a small percentage of the cost of a National Lottery ticket goes towards charitable funding. A Millennium Commission was set up to award monies to ventures across Britain designed to mark the arrival of the 21st century provided that half the total cost required was provided by private funding. Here in Wales there were two vocal communities and two landmark projects proposed for the Millennium. The artistic community wanted to build their own version of the Sydney Opera House in Cardiff Bay, the redeveloped run-down docklands area. But the idea was turned down by the Commission following a row over its controversial modern design, and the inability of the Opera House Trust to get enough sponsors willing to raise their half of the total cost. The Opera House project also suffered from accusations of being elitist, but the sporting fraternity's idea of a new rugby stadium for Wales's national sport won more widespread approval. So the Millennium Commission awarded around forty-six million pounds (about eighty million dollars) towards the one hundred and twenty million pounds it would cost to build a new 72,500 seat rugby stadium in Cardiff.
The Millennium Stadium is replacing the now demolished National Stadium at Cardiff Arms Park which held around 58,000 people including 20,000 standing at its famous city centre site - more than big enough for all but a handful of big events. The new venue will be the first modern all-seater stadium in Wales and the first in the UK to have a retractable roof. Readers not used to the phenomenon of quaint British sporting grounds may be surprised to know that even the old stadium, considered state-of-the-art for 1971, didn,t have all of its spectators under cover. But the venue which will host next year,s final of the Rugby World Cup will be more in tune with the needs of corporate hospitality than less-well off rugby fans who are happy just to see a glimpse of their heroes through the wind and rain.
The new stadium is also seen as a new beginning for Welsh rugby - a chance to rebuild its tarnished image. Sports fans still recall the golden years of the 1970s when our small nation of just under three million people had the best rugby team in the world, and the star players of that time like Gareth Edwards, Barry John and JPR Williams are still revered today as national heroes. But since rugby turned professional Wales has failed to keep the pace, suffering one record defeat after another - the worst being a 96-13 thrashing at the hands of reigning world champions South Africa this summer. The poor state of Welsh rugby has been marked by the decision of our two top clubs - Cardiff and Swansea - to quit the Welsh leagues in favour of more competitive games against England's top sides in defiance of the game's ruling authorities in the two countries.
What ever its promise for the future of Welsh rugby, it's feared that the Millennium Stadium may have brought the death knell for another sport in Wales. The Empire Pool, our only Olympic-sized swimming pool, was demolished in order to make way for the stadium,s construction with the prospect of a replacement looking very uncertain. Welsh swimming coaches are now worried that if they have to take Welsh swimmers over to England to train, their brightest prospects won't represent Wales in the future if they decide that it would be easier to settle in England.
Furthermore, at the beginning of October disabled groups accused the stadium's constructors Laing building plan of treating the 400,000 disabled people of Wales as second class citizens because of its lack of suitable provision for the disabled. By the end of the month Cardiff County Council had rejected the plans which failed on at least thirty counts to comply with the 1984 Disability Act. Among the failings were inadequate standards on the exits, toilet and seating facilities.
The construction operation has also angered the people who live nearby. Residents had accused Laing of regularly abusing council limitations on noise pollution. And a recent decision to give the go-ahead for all-night working hasn't helped. Laing argued that without twenty-four hour working the stadium wouldn't be ready for the opening game against South Africa in June 1999. It's agreed to install secondary double glazing free of charge to the homes affected and the round-the-clock work schedule won't start until this is completed. But this concession hasn't relieved any of the bad feeling between the residents and the company.
Laing might appear to be the bad guy in all of this but the construction company has admitted that it made losses of twenty six million pounds on the project because of changes made to the original design by Millennium Stadium plc, the consortium led by the Welsh Rugby Union and Cardiff County Council which will eventually own and run the new stadium. Laing have said they may consider taking legal action to recover their losses after their shares dropped sharply on the London Stock Exchange but have apparently decided against it. However Tony Evans recently resigned as managing director of John Laing Construction after the big losses were reported.
Laing losses prompted the latest wave of speculation about the stadium not being ready on time, with organisers of the Rugby World Cup reportedly checking if venues in Edinburgh and Paris might be available if the worst comes to the worst. Even so, the builders have promised that whatever happens, the Cardiff stadium will be ready in time for the Rugby World Cup, which is hoped to bring more visitors to Wales than ever before. At this moment construction is under way on several new hotels in Cardiff to house all these visitors. Whether we'll be able to fill these hotels ever again - let alone fill the stadium - once the tournament is over remains to be seen. And while the stadium had appeared to be for Welsh rugby fans it seems to have become a vehicle for big businesses to promote themselves. Public faith has been lost, Laing has lost millions, and the people who live by the construction site have lost sleep. Where are the benefits? It could be argued that we didn't even need this new stadium anyway if the old one was given a facelift. And if the Welsh rugby team doesn't improve enough to grace their brand new 120 million pound home, will it all have been worth it?
+++ The Previous WELSH TAKE +++ The NEXT WELSH TAKE +++
