Dubai: After several delays and postponements, a new date has been set for the Dubai Frame launch.
According to Dubai Municipality’s Director General Hussain Lootah, the massive 150 metre-high, 193 metre-long project is expected to open in October 2017.
Gulf News initially reported that Dubai’s newest landmark was due to open in 2015 but the Dh160 million project was pushed back to end of 2016, before its launch date was once again rescheduled.
Although construction started at the end of 2013, it was only recently that UAE residents saw the iconic landmark get covered in gold cladding.
Once the project is completed in five months, visitors can access the Dubai Frame near Star Gate in Zabeel Park. It consists of two towers connected by a 100 square metre bridge.
According to a statement issued by Dubai Municipality, the Frame will have interior spaces on the ground floor (the horizontal rib bottom of the frame) for exhibitions, which will display details of old Dubai in pictures and show how the city evolved since the sixties and how it is now.
An artist's impression of how the Frame will look like once completed. Source: Supplied
The ground floor ends at the main panoramic elevator, which goes up through the rib of the Frame to get to the top floor.
At the top, visitors will have a bird’s-eye view of old Dubai as they look towards Al Karama, Umm Hurair, Bur Dubai and Deira, and as they turn around, will see the high-rise towers and development projects of new Dubai in contrast.
The project is expected to attract 2 million visitors a year and will join the long list of internationally recognised landmarks, such as the world’s tallest tower Burj Khalifa and the seven-star hotel Burj Al Arab.
