100 days to go until Echo Arena Liverpool opens

4 Oct 07

There are now just 100 days to go until the spectacular 10,600 seat Echo Arena Liverpool opens for business.

The main construction work on the arena is nearing completion and the internal fitting out of the building is well progressed, with more than 7,000 seats installed and the VIP boxes close to being finished.

That means work is on schedule for the first concert at the arena on 12th January – the Capital of Culture opening event, featuring Ringo Starr, former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The convention centre has 80 events booked ahead of its opening, while the Echo Arena Liverpool now has 64. Its Box Office is also reporting healthy sales for the exciting events that have been announced, including X Factor Live, Cbeebies, and Supercross, a motorcross spectacular to name but a few.

Bob Prattey, ACC Liverpool Chief Executive, said: ‘Already, more than 140 events are scheduled to be held at ACC Liverpool and things are really gaining momentum.

‘Lots of events are already on sale at the arena and we are in talks with some of the world’s biggest promoters to stage others here throughout the year.

‘On the convention centre side of things, we have attracted some of the most prestigious organisations in the UK and recently came second in a nationwide survey – despite there still being months to go before opening!’

As well as the arena, the £146m ACC Liverpool development will also incorporate a convention centre with 1,350 seats, a 3725 sq metre multi-purpose hall and 18 further meeting rooms. Total exhibition space is in excess of 7000 sq metres. 

ACC Liverpool now employs 64 full time members of staff, with several North West firms having been taken on as suppliers. The Kings Waterfront development as a whole will create an estimated 2,200 full time equivalent jobs by 2012.

The venue will be one of the greenest in Europe with a building emitting half the CO 2 emissions it would without any environmentally-friendly measures. Five 20 metre low-noise wind turbines will generate around 10% of ACC Liverpool’s electricity and rainwater will be collected on the roof of the building, which will then be used to flush toilets.

ACC Liverpool’s partners are Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision, English Partnerships, the European Objective One programme and the North West Regional Development Agency.

For further information, contact Jane Wolstenholme at Factory Communications on 07983 649 747