Seoul's 'floating islands' to open in late May: officials

SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul Metropolitan Government may open to the public its "floating islands," currently under construction on the city's Han River, by late May, local officials said Wednesday.
The city government in 2008 launched the 96 billion won (US$86 million) project to build a trio of large artificial islands in the water near Banpo Bridge for use as venues for cultural performances, conventions, exhibits and water sports.

"We're currently working on the interiors of facilities with construction of the exteriors almost complete," a senior city official said, requesting anonymity. "We have not yet fixed the schedule for the opening, but we are pushing forward the project with an aim of opening it to the public in late May."
Another city official said it would take some time to select the operators of the facilities and decide how to run them. "The construction work itself is now in the final stage," he explained.
The combined size of the three islands is 9,905 square meters, including the connecting bridges.
The largest island, covering 5,508 square meters in size, will house a 692-seat convention hall for international conferences, exhibitions and restaurants.
The 3,449-square-meter second island will have event halls for entertainment plus restaurants, while the third island, 1,038 square meters, will be home to water leisure activity facilities and gardens.
The opening was originally planned for last September, but it was postponed due to poor weather conditions.