only other sliding roofs in Europe at the time were at two Dutch stadia – the Amsterdam Arena, completed in 1996 with a capacity of 50,000; and Gelredome in Arnhem, a 30,000-capacity ground built from 1996 to 1998. To remain on the Arms Park site, additional space had to be found to allow safe access and to provide room for the increased capacity and improved facilities. This was achieved by the purchase of adjacent buildings to the south and east and by the construction of a new £6 million River Walk by the River Taff on the western side of the stadium. By 1999, the Millennium Stadium had replaced the National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, as the national stadium of Wales for rugby union and association football international matches. Cardiff RFC continued as before to play at Cardiff Arms Park rugby ground, which had replaced the cricket ground in 1969. Construction The stadium was designed by a team led by Rod Sheard at Lobb Sport Architecture, who later merged with HOK Sport to become Populous. The building contractor was Laing and the structural engineers were WS Atkins. Mike Otlet of WS Atkins designed the stadium's retractable roof, which was constructed by Kelsey Roofing Industries. Cimolai S.p.A. from Italy fabricated and erected the 72 steel plane frames for the stands and all the 4,500 components of the roof. Construction involved the demolition of a number of buildings, primarily the existing National Stadium (Cardiff Arms Park), Wales Empire Pool (swimming pool) in Wood Street, Cardiff Empire Telephone Exchange building (owned by BT) in Park Street, the newly built Territorial Auxiliary & Volunteer Reserve building in Park Street, and the Social Security offices in Westgate Street. The stadium was built by Laing in 1999 on the site of the National Stadium, with the head of construction being Steve Ager. It was built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, for which Wales was the main host, with seven of the 41 matches, including the final, being played at the stadium. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, which was funded by private investment and £46 million of public funds from the Millennium Commission, the sale of debentures to supporters (which offered guaranteed tickets in exchange for an interest-free loan) and loans. The development left the WRU heavily in debt. The Millennium Stadium was named as such in recognition of the Millennium