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The museum was originally scheduled to open in 2012 but that
target was pushed back until this year. Ali Majed al Mansoori,
chairman of state-owned Tourism Development and Investment
Company (TDIC), said authorities were now aiming for late 2016.
"Attention will now turn to the remaining work on the underside
of the cladding and the Louvre Abu Dhabi remains on track for
opening in the second half of 2016,” he told Reuters by email.
He did not give a reason for the delay in building work at the
$650 million project, which is part of the wealthy emirate's
wider plan to boost the tourist credentials of a country heavily
dependent on oil.
A building boom in the United Arab Emirates has created
bottlenecks as some construction firms scramble to find labor,
supplies and financing to complete huge backlogs of work.
TDIC is developing a cultural district in Abu Dhabi which will
house branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, as well as
the Zayed National Museum.
The Guggenheim has been scheduled to open in 2017 and the Zayed
in 2016. Mansoori did not clarify whether those targets were
still in force but said contracts for both museums would be
awarded soon, with ground-breaking for the Zayed expected by the
end of 2015 and at the Guggenheim in the first half of 2016.
(Corrects chairman's name to Ali Majed al Mansoori)
(Editing by Andrew Torchia and Helen Popper)
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