Construction of the controversial National Theatre in the centre of Beijing will resume officially next month, with completion due by 2004, workers at the site said yesterday.
'We have been doing preparatory work since June 1, setting up the offices, living quarters, toilets and canteens for the workers,' said one of the workers putting the finishing touches to a wall surrounding the site.
'We will dig a hole 50 metres into the ground and the height from its base to the top of the building will be equal to that of a 13-storey building.'
In July 1999, China's leaders chose a design of a translucent glass and titanium bubble nestling on a lake, with four auditoriums and 6,000 seats, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, and costing 4.7 billion yuan (HK$4.42 billion).
Work on the site started on April 1 last year, but opposition to the design from Chinese architects and academics was so fierce that it was suspended on July 1.
As a result, the design was revised to reduce the built-up area from 180,000 to 149,000 square metres, cutting the number of auditoriums from four to three and the cost to three billion yuan.