Dubai Safari, Frame to open in November

Dubai’s long-delayed Dhs1bn ($272.2m) safari park will open by the end of November, according to reports.

Dubai Municipality director general Hussain Nasser Lootah told Gulf News the organisation was “expecting to complete and hoped to open Dubai Safari by the end of November”.

A soft launch to test operations is also expected to take place earlier that month.

Dubai Safari was originally due to open last year but has since had its launch pushed back from March 2017 to after the summer and now November.

Read: Dubai Safari opening pushed back

In its first phase it will host around 3,500 animals from around the world at the site in Dubai’s Al Warqaa district opposite Dragon Mart.

Lootah also told the publication the Dhs160m ($43.5m) Dubai Frame would open around the same time as the safari park.

The project was started in 2013 and stands 150m above the ground. Earlier this year the Mexican-born architect who won the international competition to design the frame said he was suing Dubai Municipality because he never signed an agreement for the design to be used.

“Our design, the Dubai Frame project, won the competition in 2009. As per the competition regulations – ‘the author of the preliminary design placed first will keep his copyright and his work may only be used by the Dubai Municipality when he has signed the corresponding contract for drafting the corresponding design with the former’,” Fernando Donis said.

It was unclear if the dispute had been resolved.

Read: Dubai Frame subject to copyright lawsuit in the US