The opening of the Millennium Gate was met by a parade and patriotic music while fireworks were planned for Friday evening, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

The gate, which resembles Paris's Arc de Triomphe and contains a museum inside, celebrates the turning of the millennium a few years after the actual event.

"It's only eight years late," said Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, a British interior designer who helped create the period rooms in the museum. "But it's a nice piece of architecture. I think people will love it in 200 years."