Models of the three conceptual designs for the National Swimming Centre that has been selected by an evaluation committee will be on show to solicit public opinions, BOCOG and the Beijing State-owned Assets Management (BSAM) jointly announced.

The evaluation was conducted from June 20 to 28 in Hainan Island by a panel of well-known Chinese and foreign designers and operation experts who picked plans B04, B07 and B10, from a total of 10 submissions, as the winners of the excellence awards.

In line with the strict requirements set by the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, la Federation Internationale de Natation and BOCOG, BSAM chose designers on the basis of openness, fairness and impartiality.

BSAM, proprietor of the swimming center, will put the 10 designs on display in the Beijing International Convention Centre for three days – July 3, 4 and 7 – so the public will have a chance to vote for their preference. The final designer will be decided by August 15 upon the selection of experts and approval by the municipal government.

The swimming center, to be located in the Beijing Olympic Green as one of the landmark architectures, covers a floor space of 70,000 square metres. With 17,000 seats -- 6,000 permanent ones and 11,000 temporary ones – the swimming centre will host competitions in swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events during the 2008 Olympic Games. It will be turned into a large-scale multi-functional facility to provide the public recreation, sports and fitness services after the Games.

Construction is set to start in December and will be finished by the end of 2006. Total investment is estimated at 830 million yuan (US$100 million).

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