Millennium Dome: O2 arena could have been moved from Greenwich to Swindon, Wiltshire, say new files

When the Millennium Dome didn’t quite live up to expectations, plenty of ideas were floated around about how to solve the £800 million problem. But one proposition, just revealed via newly released files, came in stark comparison to the rest.

Move it to Swindon - 80 miles west from its original home in Greenwich, London. The suggestion was directed to then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001, at a time when the highly-anticipated Millennium Experience had failed to reach even half the projected 12million visitors. The venture therefore soon became regarded as a costly white elephant, and government ministers were anxious to offload the structure.

According to papers released to the National Archives in Kew, London, a letter to Blair penned by Lindsay Sharp proposed the westward relocation scheme. The director of the Science Museum suggested the Dome could be repurposed to house a new museum on an old military airfield at Wroughton, situated on the outskirts of Swindon.

Mr Sharp wrote enthusiastically: “I am writing to you about a completely different and exciting possibility for the Dome. This proposal presents a unique range of features at a time when such characteristics may, together, provide a unique solution to the challenges of the Dome.”

He explained the £800 million structure could become home to a “major new public facility devoted to interactivity and immersively exhibiting the latest in practical aspects and research into sustainability”. At the same time, it would free up the site in Greenwich for redevelopment.

The museum director admitted that he did not know whether the plan was actually feasible. Nor did he offer a suggestion for the practical problems that could accompany moving a structure which measures 365 metres (1,200ft) in diameter and 52 metres (170ft) in height.

“This is a ‘big concept’ approach and would need a rapid and detailed evaluation,” he admitted.

But unfortunately, the idea, although an eye-catching one, failed to catch the imagination of government ministers - or of Blair. Instead, in December 2001, it was announced that Meridian Delta Ltd had been chosen to develop the Millennium Dome into a sports and entertainment centre.

In 2005, it was renamed The O2 arena and never left its home in Greenwich - perhaps to the disappointment (or relief) of those in Swindon. The files released to the National Archives have revealed other new information too - such as the fact that Blair wanted Russian President Vladimir Putin to be included at the ‘international top table’.