The O2 Arena - History
The O2 Arena, formerly remembered as the Millennium Dome, is located on the Greenwich Peninsula in the South East of nation’s capital city. Its nearest underground connections an be found at North Greenwich Underground Station, whilst its nearest railway station appears in the form of Charlton Tran Station, with a number of buses connecting these locations.
The O2 Arena has emerged as a top quality entertainment venue that serves London and the surrounding areas in recent years after being initially constructed as a building to mark the new millennium in 2000. It is now well known for hosting some big name acts and in 2012 will become an important part of London’s 2012 Olympic Games.
The then Prime Minister John Major first looked over the plans for a Millennium Commission in 1994 with many different locations across the UK considered for the high profile site. It was eventually given to Greenwich in London by 1996 and work got underway on the futuristic new construction that would see Britain into the Twenty First century. It was finally finished in 1999 and opened to the public on 1st January 2000 the first day of the brand new year, century and millennium. Inside this brand new construction was the Millennium Experience, which was an exhibit designed specifically to showcase and celebrate what is the third millennium. Once the year 2000 had come to an end the exhibit was closed and the interior completely removed. What was ahead were many years of debate and decision making concerning what the dome would now be used for.
As the years went by the possession of the structure changed hands and in 2003 a Winter Wonderland was also seen. However it was not until 2005 that the mobile phone company O2 were sold the rights to the venue’s name and The O2 was born, inside which a brand new entertainment venue called The O2 Arena would be situated. Since this decision there have been a whole host of shows to grace the venue over the last few years and as the decade closes, London now has a brand new entertainment complex, which is now the biggest in the capital.
The acts to appear have included: Prince, Elton John, Peter Kay, Tom Jones, Scissor Sisters, The Mighty Boosh, Kaiser Chiefs, Basement Jaxx, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Take That, Led Zeppelin, Spice Girls, WWE Raw, Tiesto, Britney Spears, Bryan Adams, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, The Rolling Stones and Lee Evans amongst many more. Meanwhile sporting events have included the Red Bull Air Race World Series (held just outside) and the 2007 National Basketball Association games.
With many more acts yet to come, the O2 Arena has a huge future ahead of it and is a great location to witness some big name acts. It will surely be something look out for during the 2012 Olympic Games.
