Wembley Fiasco Rolls On
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by user Alex Holowczak
Wembley Stadium, in England, and home of English football, is going to be even later than the fourth deadline set by Multiplex, the contractors, which is the 2007 FA Cup Final.
The original deadline was January 2005, in order for the World Athletics Championships to be hosted there. This had to move to Helsinki.
It was supposed to be complete in January 2006, in time for the 2006 FA Cup Final. This deadline was missed, and as a result, the FA Cup Final went to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, as it had done since redevelopment started after the 1998 FA Cup Final.
The next deadline was September 2006, for the start of Euro 2008 Qualifying. This is also going to be missed. An NFL Game may have been played there, but the FA did not want the first event at the new Wembley to be an American Football Game.
And now, Multiplex are going to miss the May 2007 deadline, and the 2007 FA Cup Final will have to move to the Millennium Stadium again. The FA are denying this, but Multiplex, the builders, have released a statement saying they are.
When it is complete, it will seat over 90,000 people.
This raises several questions:
- How can Wembley take > 9 years to be built, when down the road, Emirates' Stadium was built quicker, and on time?
- How does this effect building projects for the 2012 Olympic Games?
- Why is it taking so long? Most stadiums are built in less time in US Sports, and for a lot cheaper than the £900 million it is going to end up costing. ($1.75 billion)
Wembley will be a brilliant, and unquestionably the best stadium in the world when complete, but getting it built is proving a lengthy, expensive venture.
Date
Wed 08/02/06, 3:59 am EST
