Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: The highly-anticipated Dubai Mall will not open on Thursday as planned, but has been delayed a second time, until November 4 as the mall and other facilities are not ready.
The opening was originally scheduled for today, but judging by the frenzied activity inside the Dubai Mall on Wednesday, this optimistic opening date was not possible.
"It cannot open like this. It will open slowly, slowly," an onsite source told Gulf News on Wednesday, during an impromptu visit to the site.
There was frantic activity on Wednesday inside the mall, with only a temporary coffee stand finished. Only a couple of shops seen had any merchandise in them, and most of the walls were still boarded up.
Water had covered the end parking spaces in the lower parking level, "perhaps because of a burst pipe", a source said.
In typical Dubai style, the traffic going in and out of the Dubai Mall was slow and disorganised, perhaps the biggest reason for the delay.
This postponement may not come as a surprise to most in Dubai, as project delays have become almost as famous as the developments themselves.
And the Dubai Mall has already been delayed this year, with an original opening date of August.
Emaar Malls officials were not available for comment when contacted by Gulf News.
But, officials later confirmed that the opening of Dubai Mall would now be put back to November 4.
"The new opening date for The Dubai Mall, one of the world's largest shopping and entertainment destinations, is November 4, 2008," an Emaar Mall Statement said.
The additional five days will ensure the "final touches" are in place, the statement said.
The Dubai Mall has a total built-up area of 5.9 million square feet and will house around 1,200 retail outlets.
It will also feature the world's biggest gold souq, with 220 retailers and an Olympic sized- ice rink.
However, perhaps the most-talked about feature of the whole mall is the aquarium. Complete with the world's largest viewing panel, visitors can walk through a 270-degree walkthrough tunnel to view over 33,000 aquatic creatures. These creatures include the largest single school of sharks on earth, with a total of 400.
The delay will give shop-owners and retailers more time to organise themselves, so that when it does open up it will offer the quality of service Dubai residents are used to.
Traffic, however, is still likely to darken opening day.
The big one: fast facts
- Internal floor area - 5.9 million square feet
- Stores - 1,200
--Restaurants and cafes - 160
--Expected visitors year one - 30 million
--Creatures in aquarium - 33,000, including 400 sharks
--The Address hotel has 250 rooms and 450 serviced apartments
--Aquarium will hold 10 million litres of water
--Indoor waterfall drops four levels of the mall
--Outdoor musical fountain - 275 metres long
--Each water nozzle can spray water - 50 storeys
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