Dome should close, say public

The Dome's contents are too populist, says its architect

More than three-quarters of the public think the troubled Millennium Dome should be closed, according to a BBC poll.

More than 120,000 people took part in the telephone vote for BBC One's Weekend Watchdog programme on Friday.

Of those questioned 77% gave the thumbs down to the Dome and 23% said it should stay open.

The poll results are a further blow for the London attraction, which was given a further £29m by the Millennium Commission this week after poor attendance figures caused a cash crisis.

There was no really visionary person with a clear belief in charge of it

Lord Rogers

Its contents have also been branded "poor quality" by the architect who designed and built it.

Lord Rogers said the team responsible for filling his £50m "tent" lacked vision and had tried so hard to be popular that the attraction ended up pleasing almost no-one.

But he said he felt no responsibility for the Dome's problems, insisting he had delivered his part of the project successfully and with good value for money.

The giant construction should have been made a world-class venue for top-quality music, sport or art, rather than housing an exhibition with no clear purpose, Lord Rogers told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Lack of vision

"I objected at the beginning, but it was not my responsibility," he said.

"I was asked what I thought about the contents and I made it quite clear it was not the way I would have gone about it.

"There was no really visionary person with a clear belief in charge of it.

Lord Rogers: Contents please "almost no-one"

"We needed a ringleader with a vision - whether it was cultural or sports-related didn't matter - but we didn't have that.

"You can't just say `I want to make the most popular place'.

"It could have been a great sports centre or the most wonderful music centre. But we tend to go for the most popular thing, and people don't fall for that."

Lord Rogers pointed out that the vast majority of the money spent on the Dome did not go on the construction itself, which he said cost little more, per square foot, than a DIY superstore.

He said: "I don't have any responsibility for the odour in which the Dome is held.

"My responsibility is for the construction of the Dome. In terms of the contents of the Dome, we were not involved."

A distinguished architect and Labour peer, Lord Rogers' previous work includes the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Lloyds building in the City of London.