IT IS A concrete and plate glass monument to optimism. And tonight it gets the gala treatment, giving the Belfast, glitterati somewhere to glitter.
Builders, carpenters, lighting' and sound technicians have been finishing the new £32 million concert and conference centre, Waterfront Hall.
More than 2,200 guests have paid between £10 and £58 for a seat at the black-tie event. After the champagne has been sipped, guest conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk will raise his baton and the Ulster Orchestra will play a commissioned piece, aptly called Fanfare.
Two Belfast boys-made-good, flautist James Galway and pianist Barry Douglas, will play Maazel and Beethoven. And the show will be beamed live by the BBC into the homes of the ratepayers who paid for it.
The building is the first stage of a development on the banks of the Lagan, to include a Hilton hotel and British Telecom's regional headquarters, both due, to open in mid-1998.
The venture got £10.5 million in grants from the EU and the British government's urban development fund. The balance was funded by Belfast City Council.
However, Sinn Fein councillor Mr Mairtin O Muilleoir demanded that the facilities should be made affordable to community groups. He had been quoted a price of £800 plus VAT for a two-hour morning session in the smaller hall.
The general manager, Mr Tim Husbands, insists the facilities will be available to community groups at reasonable rates during the day.
