The Nice 'Zenith' will be called Nikaia

The new very big Nice auditorium (8,000 seats) whose construction has already begun in Plaine du Var will be called Nikaia. The name should be made official at the time of a public interview of the Nice town council, on Friday, Sept.29th. The name choice for the future Nice Zenith had provoked an important debate. 500 names had been chosen by a specialized firms, among which Nikaia, Iquazo, Rapido, Gabian, Stadium, Millennium, Azura…To be allowed to use the name 'Nikaia' (this is how Liguria people used to call the little river down the Castle), an authorization had to be obtained: actually, the authorization of the association which organizes each year the Nice Nikaia athletics meeting and which owns the name. The Nikaia auditorium will be open in 2001. Its 2001-2002 program should be announced on Oct. 6th.