Los Angeles-based Hyper Entertainment Inc. has beat out 70 competitors to develop attractions and exhibits for the widely criticized Millennium Dome in London.

The dome is Europe’s most controversial development in some time, a giant canvas-and-steel structure that was built to host England’s major millennium celebration. The question on the minds of many Brits, of course, is what to do with the enormous structure which is big enough to contain the Eiffel Tower if it were laid on its side now that New Year’s Eve has long passed. It’s more than an academic question, considering the dome cost $1.2 billion in U.S. dollars to build.

Mike Swinney, president and chief executive of Hyper Entertainment, said his task is to design a “Dome Europe” museum that will focus on European creative arts, entertainment, culture and cuisine. The dome will also include restaurants and retail shops to complement the attractions and exhibits.

“It caught us by surprise that we won,” Swinney said.

Being that Hyper is an American company, perhaps it’s not surprising that a few of the attractions it is planning for the dome will be “Disney-like,” with the remainder retaining the feel of a World’s Fair, Swinney said.

The current fair-like exhibits inside the dome were only intended to remain for one year. Many will stay for considerably longer, however, because Hyper Entertainment plans to make only gradual changes. Once installed, however, the replacements will be permanent.

The Hyper Entertainment deal is connected to a 999-year lease signed between the British government, which owns the dome and surrounding property, and Dome Europe, a unit of Nomura International in London. Beginning in January 2001, Dome Europe will take over management of the dome.

Hyper Entertainment was formerly an attractions design arm of Sony Corp. called Sony Development, until being taken independent in a management-led buyout last month. Sony still owns a small stake in the operation.

The dome, which Swinney describes as “quite a massive structure that inside looks very light,” sits on the banks of the Thames River. As part of the deal, Nomura will be allowed to develop three hotels on 40 acres outside the dome, a site with a view of the London skyline.

The dome itself has the capacity to house 1 million square feet of attractions, taking the average visitor anywhere from six to eight hours to see. Swinney said by year’s end, an estimated 7 million people will have visited.