What it was
The Dome is situated on the Greenwich Peninsula on the Meridian Line. It held the Millennium Experience, the centrepiece of the millennium celebrations which ran throughout the year 2000, from 1 January until 31 December. It was run by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC).

Inside the Dome there were nearly 20 attractions, each different in approach and style, creating a rich and inspiring experience. At its heart was the central arena, with cafés and live events running throughout the day. NMEC also ran a National Programme of events and activities that involved schools, voluntary groups, churches, local authorities and businesses across the UK.

The Millennium Commission awarded grant of £449m to NMEC in July 1997 for the Millennium Experience at Greenwich and associated programme of activities throughout the UK. The Commission made additional grants to NMEC and the total grant was £602.3m, including £1.98m for London's 'Big Time' event on New Year’s Eve 1999.

The outcomes
The Millennium Experience was an ambitious venture. It was built on time and within 4% of budget. Fewer people visited the Dome than anticipated. Nonetheless, 6.5 million people did visit, more than any other paying visitor attraction in the UK and the second most popular in Europe. The visitor response was overwhelmingly positive with visitor satisfaction levels of 85 per cent (MORI, September 2000).

In funding the Dome the Commission had two objectives: firstly to provide a spectacle entertaining 12m visitors, and secondly to stimulate the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula. The Dome did not achieve its target of 12 million visitors. However plans for achieving the regeneration of the Greenwich Peninsula are now in place and the Commission’s objective of regeneration will be fully achieved.

Ownership of the Dome passed to English Partnerships (EP) on 1 July 2001. In December 2001 NMEC went as planned into a Members' Voluntary (solvent) Liquidation. This was a necessary part of the processes that followed the Dome's closure in 2000. The archive of information about the Dome and Millennium Experience is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The future
A deal for the development of the Dome and the remainder of the Greenwich Peninsula was agreed between the Government agency, English Partnerships, and a consortium, Meridian Delta Limited in 2004. Under the terms of the sale to MDL, the Dome will house a world-class entertainment and sports arena which will be used for public entertainment for many years to come. 10,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs will be created.

A £4,000 million redevelopment of the Peninsula is now expected to generate returns for the public sector of £550m over twenty years. The Government, in recognition of the leading role played by the Lottery through the Millennium Commission, in helping to regenerate the Greenwich Peninsula, has agreed that the Lottery will receive 13% of the proceeds of the development after EP have received the first £30m. This money will be used by the Commission’s successor body, the Big Lottery Fund, for the benefit of people throughout the UK.

The Greenwich Peninsula has come a long way from the contaminated, derelict wasteland which existed before the Commission took its investment decision in 1997.