World cup deadline
01 January 2000
Work has started on a £5m project to refurbish Cardiff's Royal Hotel.
The 80-bedroom Jarvis-owned hotel, built in the 1860s, was closed in December to allow time for furniture to be cleared and the architects to draw up their plans before the builders moved in this week.
The work is scheduled to be finished next September, in time for Cardiff's hosting of the Rugby World Cup in October 1999.
The hotel is the place where Captain Scott ate his last dinner before embarking on his ill-fated journey to the Antarctic. Scott ate there on 13 June, 1910 and the meal he enjoyed is to be listed on the new menu.
All the staff have been given temporary work in other Jarvis hotels and will go back to their former jobs when the Royal reopens.
