The tower was once London’s tallest building, but has been closed to the public other than for special events for decades. Now, it’s becoming a hotel as well as opening a whole new tourist attraction for the capital
The tower has been closed to Londoners since the 1980s(Image: Daniel Leal/PA Wire)
For decades, the BT Tower has been an icon in the London skyline, a 1960s structure that has been everything from a revolving restaurant to a news display for the capital.
But the tower’s doors have remained closed to the public since 1981, other than a handful of special events. Unless you worked in telecoms you won’t have been able to appreciate this London landmark up close.
The Grade II-listed building, based in Fitzrovia, was completed in 1964 and originally named the Post Office Tower. At 177 metres high, it was the tallest building in London for years, but was damaged by a bomb in 1971. Its tower-based restaurant and viewing galleries had to close as a result.
The public has been unable to access the building since 1981. It was renamed the British Telecom Tower a few years later. Since then, it has been used as a communications hub. Most Londoners know it for its breaking news alerts, which play on a huge 360-degree screen wrapped around the tower.
Now, architecture firm Orms has revealed plans to turn the London landmark into a luxurious hotel with a rooftop pool. Its plans were shown at a public consultation earlier this week, with visuals showing how the completed project will look.
In addition to the hotel, the tower would include a visitor experience space giving views across the London skyline. On the ground floor, the retro 1960s buildings would be converted into shops and cafés, with plans to remove “unsightly” modern additions.
Other plans include a new public square with pedestrian routes through the complex, according to the Architects’ Journal. This is where the entrance and exit to the new visitor experience will be found. A new staircase would open up the main body of the tower, and hotel rooms would be arranged around its core.
Past consultations have also speculated on the uses for levels 24 to 30, which could become “spaces for art and cultural engagement”, although no solid plans have been revealed just yet.
Camden Council is set to receive the planning application for the site this autumn, and if successful, work could begin in 2029, once BT decommissions and removes equipment from the site.
The BT Tower isn’t the only London landmark being brought back to life as a hotel. Custom House on the River Thames, a beautiful Georgian structure, is set to become a 179-room luxury hotel including a basement spa with a 25m pool, waterfront restaurants, and quayside areas open to the public.
Admiralty Arch on The Mall, long associated with royal parades, is also set to open as a Waldorf Astoria hotel this autumn, and will offer views of Buckingham Palace in some of its rooms as well as restaurants and a spa.
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STRANGER Things star Millie Bobby Brown has had a swimming pool built — just for her dogs.
The 22-year-old British actress runs an animal rescue organisation called Joey’s Friends on her farm in Atlanta, Georgia, and wants to train pooches to swim.
Millie Bobby Brown has had a swimming pool built for her dogsThe actress wants to teach her pooches how to swimCredit: nycshooter
Millie also admitted her most expensive purchases are related to her animals.
Quizzed over the most unnecessary thing she has spent money on this year, she said: “Maybe a goat shed.
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“Like I didn’t need the shed, did I? But the goats love it. I just thought it was cute. Also, a new chicken coop. That or I just built a swimmingpool for my foster dogs.”
She told the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast: “He’s like, ‘Why?’
“And I’m like, ‘Because it gets hot in the summer, and I want them to learn how to swim so that when they get adopted, they can swim’.”
Last year she said she had 62 pets including 25 farm animals, 23 foster dogs, ten of her own dogs and four cats.
She is believed to have rescued and rehomed more than 230 dogs.
Millie, who has an estimated net worth of £24million, has several goats named after rappers including Eminem, Cardi B, Slick Rick and Biggie Smalls, as well as chickens.
She said: “I have a lot of animals on the farm that were bullied out of their own farm.
“So the herds just kind of chose, ‘We hate that donkey’. Then that donkey comes to me. I have a lot of outcasts. That’s exactly where I belong.”
Millie hit the big time playing Eleven in the Netflix sensation — at the age of 12.
She made her movie debut in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters before starring in The Enola Holmes Mysteries.
WASHINGTON — Crews are again draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as President Trump’s problem-plagued efforts to revamp the waterway pushes well past his initial goal of having it ready by July 4 to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.
The president at first suggested his renovations would last a century. But within weeks of the project originally reaching completion last month, the water was beset by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom.
Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it’s from shoddy repair work.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, told conservative podcaster Katie Miller in an interview released earlier this week that the new round of draining was planned. He also said that the water might still contain debris from an extensive Independence Day fireworks display over the National Mall.
“Drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff,” Burgum told Miller, who is the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller. “Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again.”
The work on the Reflecting Pool is just one of a number of projects Trump has spearheaded across the nation’s capital. Most prominently, he demolished the White House’s East Wing to build a $400-million ballroom and plans to build a towering arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
He initially announced his intentions to beautify the Reflecting Pool this spring, saying he wanted it completed before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.
Water was drained and Trump directed that the bottom be painted what he called “American flag blue.” In May, the president posted on his social media site of the pool: “The goal is to have it done, at this higher level, prior to July 4th — We are ahead of schedule!”
But problems began quickly after the initial work was finished. Trump blamed vandals, and court documents later showed that the National Park Service reported to the U.S. Park Police a June 9 incident in which a sharp knife or razor cut the pool’s new liner.
On Thursday, former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn pleaded not guilty in D.C. Superior Court to deliberately damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker.
His attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided the case as an abuse of prosecutorial power and maintain he is being scapegoated for the poor job done fixing up the Reflecting Pool.
At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool, according to online court records. All three pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances Wednesday.
The pool was closed for the Independence Day celebration, which featured what Trump said was the largest fireworks display in the world. The president had said that the pool would have to be drained anew as part of the new round of repairs.
Burgum has also said that the Trump administration won’t seek bids for the new rounds of repairs. He told CNN’s “State of the Union” last weekend: “We’ll use the same company because they did a fantastic job.”
Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7-million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.
Democratic senators and House members are investigating the pool project, including seeking answers about how much taxpayer funding is involved.
WASHINGTON — A former Olympic canoe racer pleaded not guilty on Thursday to deliberately damaging the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a politically charged case that his defense attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided as an abuse of prosecutorial power.
David Hearn, who competed in three Summer Olympics, entered the plea through one of his attorneys during his initial appearance in Washington, D.C. Superior Court. Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., was indicted last Thursday on a single felony count of property destruction.
In front of a packed courtroom, D.C. Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean did not require Hearn to be supervised by the court while he is free awaiting a trial. A status hearing was scheduled for Aug. 5.
Prosecutor Kevin Reddington said the government wasn’t seeking any court supervision for Hearn, but just a “ stay-away order” without specifying in court where it wanted to keep Hearn away from.
Mary Dohrmann, one of Hearn’s attorneys, urged the judge not to impose any conditions of court supervision, calling Hearn an “upstanding citizen and member of the community.”
“The government’s evidence is weak,” she added.
Dozens of supporters, many carrying homemade signs, gathered outside the courthouse and waited for Hearn to leave after the hearing.
President Trump ordered a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary this month, but the project has been plagued with problems. Workers have used chemicals to curtail an algae bloom. Trump has said the pool likely would need to be drained again for liner repairs after chunks of blue coating were seen floating at the surface.
Trump has claimed without substantiation that vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter. U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said last week that six other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges related to the $16 million pool project.
Hearn’s attorneys have said the charges against him are based on a “concocted narrative” and “should be alarming to every American.”
“This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures,” the lawyers said in a statement. “The justice system exists to determine facts, not to provide political cover.”
Hearn previously told the Associated Press that he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.
Pirro accused Hearn of causing more than $1,000 in damage by ripping up recently installed sealant from the pool and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced felony charges against a former Olympic athlete for allegedly harming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
At a news conference on Thursday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro accused professional canoeist David Hearn, 67, of deliberately vandalising the pool.
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“Today, a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property, for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro, a Trump appointee, said.
She proceeded to call the destruction of national monuments “one of the most offensive images” she has ever seen.
“This unchecked vandalism and civil disorder turns into criminal behaviour, and that’s why we’re here today,” Pirro said. “They are an affront to the dignity of our shared history.”
But in media interviews, Hearn has denied any vandalism, saying that, like many Americans, he was simply curious about the Reflecting Pool when he visited on June 19.
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro discusses charges related to vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on July 2 [Cheney Orr/Reuters]
The Reflecting Pool had been the subject of a renovation effort Trump began in April, as part of a wider initiative to reshape Washington, DC, through controversial construction and maintenance projects.
Trump awarded a no-bid contract to a firm to seal and resurface the granite pool in a colour he dubbed “American flag blue”. But observers noted that, as soon as the pool reopened in early June, it suffered an algae bloom, and blue paint began to peel from its bottom.
Faced with criticism about the $13.1m renovation contract, Trump countered that vandals had sabotaged the Reflecting Pool.
At least seven people, including Hearn, have been arrested on allegations they may have harmed the pool’s blue-painted bottom.
Hearn has maintained his innocence. He says he was cycling by the Reflecting Pool when he stopped to look at the peeling paint, and he reached in the water to feel it. He denies removing any part of the pool.
Pirro, however, described a different scene. She said National Park Service employees observed Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands”, damaging roughly 2 square feet — or around 0.18 square meters — of pool sealant.
“A parks employee actually told Hearn to stop his behaviour and stop what he was doing. Hearn reacted by shouting at that parks employee,” Pirro alleged.
Reporters confronted Pirro with questions about whether charging Hearn with a felony was disproportionately punitive, since similar cases have been considered misdemeanour offences.
One journalist asked Pirro if her decision to seek a felony indictment was influenced by Trump, who wrote on Truth Social that a 10-year prison sentence should “be fully enforced” for any attempted damage to the Reflecting Pool.
“I didn’t charge anything harshly. I charge according to the evidence,” Pirro replied. She argued that Hearn caused damage exceeding $1,000, thereby necessitating a felony charge.
She also dismissed comparisons with the millions of dollars in damage caused by Trump supporters during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Nearly all of those defendants were pardoned on the first day of Trump’s second term.
“Are you really talking about January 6th? I’m not,” Pirro told one reporter. A hearing in Hearn’s case is scheduled for July 9.
The Reflecting Pool has been fenced off amid ongoing work to kill the algae bloom and fix the peeling paint [Holden Lombardo/Al Jazeera]
On Thursday, preparations for the July 4 fireworks show began at the Reflecting Pool, with large nets spread across the entire structure.
According to a police officer on the site, the nets are intended to catch the debris that could fall into the pool during the show. The site remains fenced off to visitors.
Still, many have come to look at the pool and see the controversial renovations firsthand.
Brian Williams, a 31-year-old from Roscoe, Georgia, praised Trump for his efforts to beautify the city. He said that algae was normal for a pool full of still water in the heat of summertime.
“I don’t think people have any business vandalising anything,” Williams added. “If you have something that you dislike about the president, don’t take it out on the people’s pool.”
But others were more sceptical of Trump’s claims. Jon Delgado, a 40-year-old Navy veteran from Collierville, Tennessee, expressed frustration at seeing the Reflecting Pool in its current state.
“I came here with my wife and my family to show them the beauty of America, the spirit of what we fought for,” he said. “To see it trashed like this, it just makes me angry.”
Delgado called Trump’s accusations about vandalism at the site “really crazy”.
“We have just got to ask ourselves: Is this where we’re at, in the state of America, that we’re believing something like this? You can look for yourself: This thing has pond scum all in it, and it stinks. There’s no vandalism,” he said.
WASHINGTON — A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.
David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in a Washington, D.C. court.
District of Columbia U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanor arrests.
In a statement, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said that they represented Hearn and that the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.” Eisen and Dohrmann construed the case as representative of “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”
Hearn didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. He previously told the Associated Press that he reached into the pool on June 19 to examine the newly peeled coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview last month. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., owned a company that made composite materials used to build watercraft.
Saying that he stopped by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride, Hearn said he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours before being released.
Trump said last month that federal authorities made “multiple arrests” of people he accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool as he struggled to explain why the $16-million rehabilitation project he launched for the nation’s 250th anniversary seemingly backfired. Without providing any substantiation, he also said vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter.
In subsequent days, National Guard members and the park police patrolled the deck around the Reflecting Pool as Trump’s administration faced a self-imposed deadline to fix a botched renovation before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration. Contractors and federal workers used chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat an algae bloom, and Trump has said that the problems probably require draining the pool again for liner repairs.
Whitehurst and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.
WASHINGTON — As America’s 250th birthday arrives this weekend, President Trump’s mark is clearly visible on Washington.
Visitors to the nation’s capital are being met with cranes hanging over the White House and construction at the site of the demolished East Wing. Fences crisscrossing the National Mall to hem in the Great American State Fair have blocked the famed sightline from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.
Some fountains newly sparkle as a result of Trump’s renovations. National Guardsmen patrol the sidewalks. The partisan flavor of the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 organization’s events is on display, and the fireworks show Saturday will feature a rally-style speech from Trump, with fireworks reportedly pushed back to 11 p.m.
President Trump examines the maintenance work Wednesday on the exterior of the White House.
(Alex Wong / Getty Images)
The memorial’s Reflecting Pool, where fireworks will be set off Saturday, was barricaded from the public earlier than usual after onlookers flocked last week to see the algae and peeling paint that followed Trump’s renovation, and Trump accused vandals of tampering with it.
“You don’t have a sense of ‘land of the free’ here,” said Melissa McFarlane, 61, standing along the fencing on the Mall. She said she was born in Silver Spring, Md., and she grew up watching July 4 fireworks on the Mall with her parents.
She recalled the nation’s 200th anniversary celebrations as “open and inviting” but said this year’s “heavy-duty fencing” and the presence of National Guardsmen made it feel different.
“It’s majorly disorganized, which is weird for our country,” McFarlane added.
A sign outside Lafayette Park near the White House.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
Trump has fixated on making changes to the nation’s capital in his second term, declaring in an early executive order that his administration would make the district “safe and beautiful.” Some of the renovations have been successful; fountains are running anew, including the long-dormant cascading water feature at the city’s popular Meridian Hill Park.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday on “Fox & Friends” that more than 50 parks and circles have been restored and 22 fountains, along with repairs to lights on the National Mall.
“President Trump should be thanked for all he is doing to leave things better than he found them for the good of our great nation,” an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement. “D.C. residents and visitors are experiencing working fountains, clean parks and safe streets across the district for the first time in decades, all thanks to President Donald J. Trump.”
On Sunday, the president took a tour of some of his construction sites, walking through Lafayette Park with Burgum before traveling to the East Potomac golf club he plans to renovate, which sits on federal land. Trump walked part of the property and inspected blueprints in view of reporters; he was then driven by the site where he wants to erect a marble arch.
Over the weekend, he posted on Truth Social about his improvements to the city in a post about D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George, casting it as a “Safe and Prestigious Community” that is now at risk of being “destroyed” by Lewis George.
“I have worked too hard to make Washington, D.C., the Envy of the World, with almost No Crime, and a Beautification process that has been second to none,” Trump wrote.
Construction crews build scaffolding outside the Kennedy Center on June 13 before removing President Trump’s name from the venue’s exterior.
(Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)
Involvement by presidents in the city’s plan goes back to George Washington, said Matthew J. Bell, an architecture professor at the University of Maryland. That is not unusual, nor is it strange for cities, including Washington, to change over time, he said.
“It’s probably more a matter of timing in terms of inconvenience for people coming for the Fourth,” Bell said of the ongoing construction. “If there had been a more coordinated plan for some of these things … it probably could’ve been managed better.”
At the National Mall, the fencing design for the state fair drew head shakes and confusion from some tourists. Visitors are corralled into a walkway by the Freedom 250-branded fencing on one side and low metal barriers on the other.
It’s normal for fencing to be used to control foot traffic for events on the mall, said Charles A. Birnbaum, chief executive of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, but he perceived the problem as slapdash placement, including of the Ferris wheel, which was put on the mall’s axis.
“Things are being plopped down,” said Birnbaum, whose organization sued the administration over the repainting of the Reflecting Pool. “It speaks to what Trump is doing at the ballroom, what he’s proposed [with] the arch — he’s just plopping these things down in major view sheds that have major historical and cultural significance.”
People walk past the Ferris wheel at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
(Jen Golbeck / Associated Press)
The fountains in Lafayette Park are running again near the White House on June 23.
On Monday, McFarlane and two friends were outside the fencing, leaning against the metal barriers in front of the Department of Agriculture, which faces the National Mall.
“It’s a little too secure,” said one of them, John, 60, who was visiting from Burbank and declined to give his last name.
He gestured over the barrier to a manicured plot with shady benches. “Here’s the People’s Garden,” he said, reading its sign, “and we can’t go in.”
A construction crane works on the White House ballroom on Monday.
(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)
Visitors take photos Tuesday of a model of President Trump’s proposed marble arch at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)
Early-morning joggers observer the refilling of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 5.
(John McDonnell / Associated Press)
The anniversary celebrations also come on the heels of the reflecting pool controversy. Last week, after chunks of paint were spotted in the water, Trump blamed vandals for tampering with the pool and said people had been arrested at the site. Two dead ducks were found in a pond about 250 feet away from the pool.
The area last week was surrounded by surveillance cameras and patrolled by National Guardsmen as lifelong resident John Cates strolled the area.
“It’s kind of creepy,” Cates said about the security cameras mounted around the pool. “It is unnecessary that we have to have this pond deemed a high security risk. That is weird.”
The area was fenced off at the end of last week. Fencing normally occurs in preparation for the July 4 fireworks show, but it went up “a couple days early to protect the pool,” Burgum said in the Fox News interview. He said seven people had been arrested in connection with the pool.
Tom Ayers, 34, was disappointed to find the fences already up on Monday. He traveled with his father from Wisconsin for the 250th, but they were finding it difficult to get around the Mall and they were upset to see the East Wing gone.
When they reached Lafayette Park, where the fencing had yet to be removed, they were again disappointed by the obscured view of the White House. Ayers’ father recalled a different scene in 1976, when he visited as a child for the nation’s bicentennial.
“I was kind of hoping for a summer similar to that,” Ayers said, “but overall, it seems nowhere close.”
Times staff writer Ana Ceballos in Washington contributed to this report.
When summer hits the San Fernando Valley, finding ways to cool off is a must, which is why my kids grew up swimming at the Verdugo Aquatic Facility in Burbank.
(When it closed for upgrades, the kids on our street were so bereft that they set up a lemonade stand, hoping it would help expedite the pool’s reopening.)
The pool is open year-round, but it’s especially popular in the summer, when it offers recreational swimming, swim lessons starting at 6 months old, a junior lifeguard program, lap swimming and other sports.
There’s a fun activity pool for kids ages 4 and under, with waterslides, dumping water buckets, a play area and a shallow wading pool with a beach-style entry. Chaise longues, picnic tables with umbrellas, and multiple lifeguards give the public pool a resort feel.
On a recent Friday, the main Olympic-sized pool was busy with families, but there were still plenty of lanes open for lap swimming. I tried a Monday evening Aquatic NoodleFit class, where you use a pool noodle for low-impact resistance training while standing in the center of the pool. The instructor, Karen Eldridge, was warm and welcoming and gave clear instructions, even working up a sweat herself as we followed her moves on the pool deck. The workout was challenging and fun, but not overwhelming for students of all levels, body types and ages, thanks to the water’s support.
During the week, the activity pool is usually not crowded, but on weekends, staff closely monitor capacity as it can get busy. Burbank residents get priority and can buy presale wristbands online at BurbankParks.com from Monday to Friday between 9 and 10 a.m. If you can’t get into the activity pool, don’t worry. The recreational pool is a fun and easy backup option.
Size: 50 by 18 meters Temperature: 80 to 82 Swim lanes: 7 Depth: 2.5 feet to 8 feet and a 12-foot diving well Admission: Lap swimming, $5 to $9. Monthly membership, $41 to $96. Activity pool, $4. Water fitness classes are subscription-based and range from $99 to $110, depending on the class. (My Aquatic NoodleFit class costs $109 as a nonresident for an 11-class series). Parking: Free. Hours: Lap swimming, 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Thursday; 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Recreational swimming, 11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Extras: Activity pool, snack bar, vending machines.
WITH its pretty timber-framed walls and stained-glass windows, even from the outside you can instantly tell The Old Inn is something special.
It’s been welcoming guests since 1614, but that doesn’t mean the hotel in the village of Crawfords-burn, Co Down, is stuck in a time warp.
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The Old Inn was a pick of Narnia author CS LewisCredit: UnknownThe rooms are as comfy as the pub is historicCredit: Unknown
Inside, it has been transformed into an oasis of modern luxury, and it has proved such a hit since it was bought by the Galgorm hotel group in 2021 that it was recently crowned the AA’s Hotel of the Year for Northern Ireland.
Now, with its stunning Treetop spa, it promises the ultimate romantic retreat – apt, because Narnia author CS Lewis chose it for his honeymoon in July 1958.
We stayed in one of the spacious junior suites, with a super-king bed and a stand-alone copper bath by the ornate bay window.
Antique furnishings maintain the 17th-century character, while the bathrooms are new and luxurious, with a marble sink and a vast rainfall shower.
The attention to detail really makes it stand out from other 4* hotels, with lavish toiletries, fluffy robes and slippers, a GHD hairdryer, and free soft drinks in the fridge as well as a Nespresso coffee machine and minibar.
We spent most of our stay unwinding in the Treetop spa, which is without doubt the star of the show.
Hotel guests get access from noon on the day of check-in until check-out.
Overlooking the Crawfordsburn Country Park and surrounded by greenery, this outdoor haven features a heated hydrotherapy pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room.
Or you can also relax by a wood-fire stove in the cosy conservatory, taking in the forest views below, or indulge in a treatment such as a facial or massage.
But the best part is that you can order cocktails straight to the pool or your lounger.
On a Sunday morning, I was able to sweat out my multiple cocktails in the hotel’s new gym, which also offers various classes, including yoga.
As for food, the hotel’s charming 1614 Bar offers pub grub such as fish and chips and burgers.
For dinner, we headed into The Restaurant to try the a-la-carte menu.
It’s not cheap, but is excellent if you fancy splashing out.
To start, I had the white asparagus with shaved mushrooms, Irish coppa and truffled honey (£15), and for my main I had the monkfish with spring brassicas, mussels and buttermilk (£33) with a great bottle of white wine.
After dinner, we returned to the 1614 Bar for a nightcap or two with live music.
Breakfast is a continental buffet spread and guests can also order a la carte.
The hotel prides itself on its fresh food, so everything from fish to yoghurt at breakfast was local.
We then strolled through the park to Crawfordsburn beach.
A winding path takes you through woods, then the trees clear and you are on to the sweeping, sandy beach looking out over Belfast Lough.
You can see why CS Lewis chose this spot for his honeymoon – with stunning scenery on your doorstep and a warm welcome, it’s couples heaven.
GO: NORTHERN IRELAND
STAYING THERE: Rooms at The Old Inn start from £175 per night.
WASHINGTON — National Guard service members and U.S. Park Police were patrolling the deck around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday, as Donald Trump’s administration faces a self-imposed deadline to fix a botched renovation and cleaning efforts ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.
The patrols come two days after Trump said authorities had made “multiple arrests” of people he insisted were responsible for damage to the peeling coating after an algae bloom occurred. The liner was installed as part of his $14-million-plus project.
The president has confirmed the problems likely require draining the pool again for liner repairs, and he promised a quick fix. But the timeline was not clear Monday, and the administration did not immediately respond to questions about a new round of work. Contractors and federal workers in recent days have been using chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat the algae.
Trump pitched the original improvements as intended to clean, beautify and reinforce an iconic site that he said had become dilapidated and dirty because of previous presidents’ neglect. Algae has plagued the pool for a century, and Trump insisted that a newly installed “American flag blue” coating, which he selected himself, would turn the pool into a gleaming expanse along the National Mall.
Yet within weeks of Trump declaring the rehabilitation completed in time for Independence Day, the water was plagued by a vivid green algae bloom that clouded the pool’s coating. An approximately 4-foot-square piece of the liner was observed Friday partially floating in the pool. The Associated Press observed additional pieces in the water Monday.
Via social media, the president has blamed the problems on “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!” He asserted Monday on Truth Social that intentional damages include a “300 foot long gash” and that “chemicals have been illegally placed in the water.” A day earlier, Trump posted, “Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool.”
He has not substantiated those claims, and even if anyone has deliberately peeled the lining, that would not explain the algae bloom that appeared more intensely than what typically occurred before the renovation.
Images showing that Trump’s project apparently backfired boomeranged across social media last week, drawing crowds of onlookers eager to see the effects themselves. An unknown number ended up being detained by federal authorities.
One man arrested was David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md. A former Olympic canoe racer, Hearn told the Associated Press that he reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the peeling new coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to. Hearn said he was then detained by National Guard troops and Park Police for five hours before being released Friday night.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
The Park Police did not immediately respond Monday to AP’s questions about how many arrests were made and whether any charges had been filed. Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said Monday that the agency is not involved.
It was not immediately apparent what criminal or civil violation someone might commit reaching into the pool. Trump, in one of his Truth Social posts on the matter, threatened prison time for his unnamed assailants, referencing laws against defacing federal monuments.
Ellgren and Barrow write for the Associated Press. Barrow reported from Atlanta. Katie Vogel contributed reporting from Washington.
June 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that work will begin “immediately” to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, blaming vandalism for problems at the newly renovated Washington, D.C. landmark.
Trump repeatedly claimed over the weekend on social media that there had been arrests in connection with vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, which has been plagued by issues since undergoing a $15 million restoration ordered by the president.
From algae blooms to blue coating peeling off its bottom, the Reflecting Pool has been a target of criticism of the Trump administration, which has defended the restoration as necessary while blaming vandals for at least some of the damage.
In a social media statement on Sunday, Trump said he inspected the Reflecting Pool and was in disbelief at what he saw.
“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!” he said.
It was unclear exactly what damage Trump was attributing to vandalism.
In a Saturday post, Trump referenced the need to drain the pool in order to conduct vandalism-related repairs, which was in addition to alleged vandalism to landscaping.
“They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence and money to build and complete,” he said.
“They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool.”
Trump first commented on the pool Saturday evening, saying in a statement that U.S. Park Police had arrested “multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool.”
He then said hours later that “many additional people have been arrested having to do with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool.”
UPI has asked U.S. Park Police for confirmation of arrests and damage to the pool caused by vandalism.
Trump first announced plans to restore the pool in November. Atlantic Industrial Coatings Limited was awarded $6.89 million in April to paint the bottom of the pool. The broader restoration has since been reported to cost about $15 million.
He announced June 6 that work on the pool was complete ahead of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the United States to be held alongside Trump’s 80th birthday.
But within days of the completion, the pool began experiencing issues. Videos posted online show the pool’s surface green with algae, while others show individuals reaching into the pool to handle the peeling blue paint.
On Friday, three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn was arrested for allegedly damaging the pool. He has claimed in interviews with multiple news organizations that he only touched the edge of hardened paint that was peeling off the pool’s floor.
June 20 (UPI) — A former Olympian who was riding his bike near the Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool was arrested after he stopped to look at the paint peeling off of its bottom.
President Donald Trump has blamed algae blooms and paint peeling off the bottom of the pool on vandalism and sabotage, The Washington Post, WUSA9 and WBNS reported that the paint has been seen peeling and floating to the top of the water for days.
David Hearn, a resident of Bethesda, Md., was arrested on Friday for damaging public property after reaching into the water to touch the peeling paint.
In several interviews, Hearn said that he went to look at the pool, the condition of which he’d read about in news reports.
Reporters at WUSA9 said they had witnessed people pulling paint off the pool during the last couple of days, including at least one that used kitchen tongs.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” said Hearn, who posted a picture of the peeling paint he was looking at on social media after he was released by police.
Weeks after the Trump administration’s $13 million refurbishment effort on the pool ahead of the United States’ 250th birthday, algae could be seen growing throughout the pool, turning it green.
Park service officials added chemicals to kill the algae, but the next day, pieces of the paint applied to the bottom of the pool started floating to the top of the water.
When Hearn approached the pool, he said that he saw part of the paint peeling off the bottom of the pool and floating up, leaned down to touch it and then was suddenly being arrested.
“I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” he said. “It was attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”
Emily Miller, a conservative journalist, posted video on X that showed Hearn near the pool, and then walking away from it before he was arrested for damaging public property.
Trump later in the afternoon said in a post on Truth Social that multiple people have been arrested for vandalizing the pool and that “work will begin immediately on its repair.”
“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool,” Trump said in the post.
“Who would do such a thing?” he said. “These are very serious crimes having to the do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”
Hearn, who competed in three Olympics in the canoe slalom and won two world championship in whitewater racing, is due in court on July 9.
President Donald Trump presents a Medal of Honor to Tom Ripley on behalf of his father, John W. Ripley, during a Medal of Honor award ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
WASHINGTON — The paint is peeling from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after the renovation ordered by President Trump, and he is now alleging, without substantiation, that someone damaged it intentionally.
“We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” he posted on his social media site Friday night. “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.” He offered no details to substantiate his claim.
Agencies responsible for law enforcement and upkeep on the National Mall — the U.S. Park Police, National Park Service and Department of the Interior — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Washington Post reported that Park Police officers arrested someone Friday who they said was peeling paint from the pool, an act that would not explain the clouds of algae in green water and swaths of loose blue paint detached from the bottom.
Trump insisted something nefarious was going on. “No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he posted.
That was a reference to the discovery of large numbers etched in discolored grass on the National Mall the week before: “86 47,” apparently advocating to “86” — get rid of, in restaurant lingo — the 47th president.
Authorities claimed the numbers may be a threat against Trump, and they are investigating. Trump’s Department of Justice has tried — unsuccessfully so far — to prosecute Trump foe and former FBI Director James B. Comey for posting a photo of seashells arranged in the numerals “86 47.”
Trump’s claims of vandalism came after days of negative attention to the state of the Reflecting Pool, which has raised concerns about the no-bid contract of more than $14 million to refurbish. The president has said the pool rehab was needed as the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations ramp up.
The pool was swiftly beset by an algae bloom that returned its waters to the greenish color that Trump had tried to replace by having the bottom painted “American flag blue.”
Federal workers treated the pool with hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae. Now, chunks of the blue paint are gone, exposing its rocky bottom.
Burford Bridge Lido in Surrey is surrounded by sunloungers and parasolsCredit: Facebook/The Burford Bridge LidoThe lido is on the grounds of the Sunday Box Hill Burford HotelCredit: Oyo Rooms
The peaceful spot is so idyllic that some visitors have said being there makes them feel like they’re “on holiday”.
Stretching 20 metres long, it is heated between 28C-32C.
Between May and September, the pool is open seven days a week to the public who can book morning, afternoon or evening sessions.
Surrounding the lido are plenty of sun loungers, parasols and towel hire which swimmers can take advantage of.
You can get food and drink there too which is served up from the hotel restaurant.
On offer there are pizzas, salads and burgers, there’s also a children’s menu as well as soft and alcoholic drinks.
As the lido is found on the site of the Sunday Box Hill Burford Bridge Hotel, guests get access to the lido included in their stay.
And over the years, it has been one of the prime selling-points of the hotel.
Burford Bridge Lido has visitors saying they feel like they’re ‘on holiday’Credit: Facebook/The Burford Bridge Lido
One visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: “The gardens are a delight, particularly the heated outdoor swimming pool. That was the icing on the cake!”
Another said: “I love outdoor swimming so the amazing 27’ temperature beautiful pool below Box Hill with fab facilities and lifeguards was a treat!”
A third commented: “An unexpected gem of a hotel in an idyllic location (despite the roundabout location!) with a glorious outdoor lido, perfect for poolside lounging and exploring green Box Hill on a hot bank holiday weekend.”
Sun Travel found rooms that start from £64 per night (or £32 each).
Day pass tickets for those not staying at the hotel vary in price depending on the time.
Early bird swims (between 7-11am) start from £12.50 for adults and £7.50 for children.
Mid-day swims (between 11am-3pm) and afternoon swims (3-7pm) start from £20 for adults and £10 for children.
A full day pass starts from £35 for adults and £17.50 for children with a family pass starting from £85.
For those driving, the lido has free parking for up to four hours for those with a day pass.
The outdoor pool is seasonal and will be open this summer until September 27.
The calm, still waters of the Reflecting Pool make it an ideal nursery for algae growth. Algae need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and the Reflecting Pool is primarily fed by the Potomac River, which gets heavy doses of those nutrients from nearby urban and agricultural lands.
The Potomac also absorbed one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history earlier this year when a pipe burst five miles upstream of Washington, although that event probably happened too long ago to contribute to the algal bloom today.
Untreated sewage is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrient levels are high, feasting algae can quickly reproduce.
The Department of the Interior said when the algae first appeared that it was “residual,” from the supply lines to the pool.
Experts also speculate that the darker blue color may be helping the Reflecting Pool absorb more heat. The higher temperatures promote algae growth by allowing their metabolisms to shift into overdrive.
Summer temperatures in D.C. aren’t helping. This week, temperatures are as high as 95 degrees in the city, prompting a heat alert.
The combination probably explains the excessive growth, turning the water surface an opaque green and preventing onlookers from seeing the new blue hue of the concrete basin.
Algae are important and beneficial organisms when the ecosystem is in balance. They’re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain. The single-celled organisms use the power of the sun to produce energy through photosynthesis, similar to houseplants on your balcony.
In an effort combat the algae in the Reflecting Pool, employees of the National Park Service were seen pouring in gallons of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical commonly used in pool maintenance.
The Department of the Interior also is employing a “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to destroy the cells of the algae.
Ozone — yes, the same irritant that is in smog — is a gas composed of three oxygen molecules, and the small size of the bubbles allow the most gas transfer into the water, where it can damage algal cells, similar to how it irritates our lungs.
This only treats the symptoms, however. Generally, ozone nanobubbling is effective as a temporary solution for algae blooms. Longer-term fixes would have to address what makes the Reflecting Pool so ideal for algae, such as its depth, darker color and inflow of nitrogen and phosphorus.
In California, ozone nanobubbles also have been used in a project to improve water quality in the Tijuana River. The 120-mile river that runs near the border in northern Mexico and Southern California was the site of a pilot study in 2025. The U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission reported that the nanobubbling reduced “odors and bacteria,” but the project concluded prematurely after a flood swept some of the instrumentation into the river.
Paint is peeling and algae is blooming less than two weeks after the $14 million renovation of DC’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. US President Donald Trump promised to ‘fix’ the landmark, but it’s been plagued with problems despite the multi-million dollar overhaul.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s remodeled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with its “American flag blue” bottom has turned chartreuse from an algal bloom that park service workers struggled to address Tuesday just days after its more than $14 million renovation.
The Washington Monument is once again visible in the refilled pool, but Trump’s vision of an azure expanse between the D.C. landmarks has been complicated by the harsh realities of chemistry and biology known to any backyard pool owner. The work has been confounded by the unique challenges posed by the scale of the structure, bigger than 10 Olympic-sized pools — which Trump has called a lake — and the source of its water: the often-fetid Tidal Basin.
Algae has plagued the site since it opened more than 100 years ago, but Trump set his sights on addressing it as part of his aggressive push to beautify Washington as the country approaches its 250th anniversary. Contracts worth at least $14.8 million have been awarded for the project, announced in April by Trump, who said he was inspired by complaints from a friend visiting from Germany who called the pool dark and disgusting.
Teams of National Park Service employees and contractors deployed chemicals and ozone nanobubbles Tuesday in a bid to keep the algae in check, not dissimilar from efforts to clean the pool before Trump’s renovation kicked off.
“What do you expect?” asked Cochise Wanzer II, president of the Pool Service Company in Arlington, Virginia. “You’re basically taking natural, untreated river water, pumping it in and expecting it to do something different from what it would do out in the open.”
And the new coat of paint on the bottom of the pool has added an additional twist to ensuring the cleanliness of one of Washington’s most memorable destinations: “Now that the bottom is nice and dark, it elevates the temperature and the algae grows better,” said Wanzer.
The chemicals and ozone nanobubbles — a water purification treatment used to avoid some harsh chemicals — were one part of the effort underway to clean the Reflecting Pool. Workers used a swimming pool-type vacuum cleaner to suck up algae from the bottom, leaving behind clean patches of American Flag Blue paint adjacent to enormous swaths of green algae in a pattern familiar to anyone who has ever vacuumed a carpet before.
The park service said in a statement it is also using hydrogen peroxide, a milder treatment than chlorine and one used in spas and natural swimming pools. “There are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment,” it said.
As the mitigation work continued, a contractor took off his socks and shoes and rolled up his pants to his knees and proceeded to wade into the pool to place an ozone nanobubble tube as tourists and locals milled about on a sunny morning.
Rick and Ariana Pettit, a couple from Las Vegas who are road tripping in their RV across the United States, posed for photos at the iconic site of protests and marches as cleaning continued. Dressed in American flag-themed leggings and a Make America Great Again leotard, Pettit remarked to her husband, attired in an “Veteran for Trump” American flag button-up: “Look, it’s already looking more blue.”
Wanzer was blunt in his assessment of what it would take to maintain the pool as an algae-free space: “They may want to drain it, hose it all down, and start from the beginning with fresh water and treat it as the water comes in.”
There’s nothing like taking a cool dip after a hot day, especially in L.A. summer weather. As peak swimming season kicks off, the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center pool in Lake View Terrace reopened Memorial Day on weekends after being closed for the season. It will be open daily for swim and play starting Saturday.
The popular San Fernando Valley aquatic center spans 40 acres that include a massive 1.5-acre pool lined with sand like a beach. There’s also a nine-acre lake used for fishing and nonmotorized boat activities.
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1.Jaylia Martinez, 5, left, is splashed with water by Elijah Santillana, 6.2.The height chart for the water slide at the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center.3.Visitors enjoy the pool at the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center.(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
“As one of the largest pools in the U.S., capacity [being] 3,500, we get so many people from all over the city, all over the county, people coming from out of state to this place,” Edwin Realegeno, aquatic facility manager of the center, said.
Along the pool’s sandy shores, individuals can use the volleyball courts and teqball table. There are also different levels of shallow water for young swimmers and toddlers.
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Paty Santillana, a Van Nuys resident, has visited the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center for the last 15 years. “It’s perfect for little kids. I have a 5-year-old and also a 21-year-old, who we used to come here with,” Santillana said. She adds that her grandchildren are ecstatic every time she mentions a visit to the pool.
Idalia Fraga, a 12-year-old swimmer who has been to the pool twice since its reopening on Memorial Day weekend, said she enjoys the pool for its affordability.
“Prices are very cheap … it really helps those families who struggle,” Fraga said.
After some renovations to its large water slide that will be reopening Saturday, the pool is open to swimmers for an admission fee of $4 for adults and children 17 and under for $1. The center takes cash only.
The recreational lake is open year-round and is restocked with fish from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Christopher Lopez relaxes by regularly fishing at the Hansen Dam Recreation Lake on the weekends.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Along the lake, people enjoy walking the surrounding grassy pathway and fishing. Christopher Lopez, a Pacoima resident, who also goes by the nickname Squid, goes to the lake for the latter.
Lopez started fishing nearly two months ago with his longtime friend from elementary school. “[It’s about] getting out of the house and having something to do on the weekends and being able to enjoy the day,” he said. “Spending our time out here I think is just a great addition.”
For Lopez, catching bass or trout and enjoying the occasional breeze is a perfect day to absorb the beauty of nature.
Lifeguards Israel Orozco, left, and Ian Zabel, right, watch the pool as visitors cool off at the Hansen Dam Aquatic Center.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The recreational center is hosting fundraising 1K and 5K runs on Sunday followed by a party with free access to the pool. Realegeno said the fundraiser is to help fund public pool centers across L.A. County and to promote swimming safety lessons.
You can stay in a number of disused train carriages in SuffolkCredit: Cottages/Brockford Railway SidingsThere are five different carriages at the siteCredit: Cottages/Brockford Railway Sidings
The first is Railway Carriage One, which has a living room, kitchen area and two bedrooms.
In Railway Carriage Two – which is a little bigger – guests will find two bedrooms as well as a further sofa bed and an open plan living area with an adjoining kitchen.
The third carriage is The Guard’s Van, which has two bedrooms, a living room, dining rooms and kitchen area.
The fourth option is staying in The Italian Carriage, which sleeps up to four people and boasts open plan seating in the centre of the carriage, as well as an outdoor patio.
And last but not least is Wilby Halt, which is described as a “quirky and unusual property is split over two restored railway carriages”.
The carriages are linked by a railway platform, with one carriage being home to the living space and kitchen and the other carriage being home to two bedrooms.
They also have living areas and kitchen spacesCredit: Cottages/Brockford Railway SidingsShared between the five carriages is a small play areaCredit: Cottages/Brockford Railway Sidings
All of the train carriages have views across the surrounding countryside.
Around the carriages, guests will find a children’s play area which is shared with other carriages also at the site.
And if you fancy a dip, there’s an indoor glasshouse with a swimmingpool, sauna and hot tub.
If you have a bigger group, you can even book out all of the carriages for up to 29 people, as well as the Station House, which sleeps up to six people.
Seven nights in one of the carriages costs from £469.
One recent visitor said: “Peaceful location and quirky accommodation with everything you needed.
And guests can also use the pool, as well as sauna and hot tubCredit: Cottages/Brockford Railway Sidings
“Good pubs near by for food, use of swimming pool a bonus.”
Another added: “We were welcomed with tea and cake and found the guards van to be very cosy and comfortable.
“We loved the quirkiness of it and the surrounding carriages.”
Surrounding the carriages, guests can venture down country lanes ideal for walks or cycle rides.
The closest village is Mendlesham, about 1.5miles away, where guests can find the Kings Head Inn Mendlesham, described as a “nice friendly village pub”.
Attached to the pub is also a post office and elsewhere in the village you can find a fish and chip shop.
A seven-night stay costs from £469Credit: Cottages/Brockford Railway Sidings
THE biggest theme park in Spain is getting two exciting new family zones – and some are the first in Europe.
PortAventura World is home to more than just a theme park as it also has the Caribbean-themed waterpark Caribe Aquatic Park.
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Coral Bay is the new water attraction opening at PortAventura World this summerCredit: Portaventura ParkMakamanu Jungle will be an aerial themed attractionCredit: Portaventura Park
Or head to the main PortAdventura Park where there are six themed lands – Mediterranean, Polynesia, China, Mexico, the Far West, and SésamoAventura – and 40 rides to choose from.
To get to the park, the easiest way is to fly to Barcelona Reus Airport which as Ryanair flights, as it is around 15 minutes from there.
One mum who recently visited told Sun Travel: “Even my too-cool-for-school teens were wowed.
“While the big thrill rides understandably grab the headlines, younger families are well provided for with a huge schedule of themed entertainment shows at the park, tea cup rides, log flumes, and mini rollercoasters.
“By staying in one of the park hotels, we also got unlimited access to the park and a day at Ferrari Land.
“So unlike Disneyland which generally closes at 9pm, PortAventura stays open until 11pm so you really can wring the maximum out of your stay.”
What’s 2,030-feet long-by-167-feet wide and blue all over? If you guessed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, you’re right!
Bonus points for triggering someone in your immediate orbit, because ever since President Trump announced his intention to apply blue paint to the basin of architect Henry Bacon’s 1923 pool, the mere mention of the project can make certain people’s heads explode. To wit, a lawsuit filed this month in district court by the Cultural Landscape Foundation and a former Park Service landscape architect, Charles Birnbaum, claims Trump’s actions have caused Birnbaum to suffer “aesthetic injury.”
The phrase might sound humorous at first read, but anyone who cares about art, architecture and the experience of shared public space knows there’s nothing funny about it. We’ve all felt the empty sorrow of staring into the abyss of a boxy Walmart superstore, and experienced a deep malaise of the soul when driving past an endless crush of fast food chains on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area.
It’s doubtful this sadness is shared by Trump, for whom an “aesthetic injury” might best be represented by a McDonald’s without its golden arches. Plus, our president clearly thinks a great deal of good will come from painting the reflecting pool at the center of the National Mall American Flag Blue.
Only a few days ago Trump posted what I can only assume was an AI-generated image of the final product on Truth Social. The blue in question is shockingly bright — like the sky over the Aegean Sea at noon on a cloudless day. That kind of blue can be breathtakingly beautiful, but in this case it swallows up everything around it, including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, which it was built to reflect.
The blue pool, in other words, is the main event — and that is not what was intended by its creators. Indeed, Birnbaum’s lawsuit notes the value of various design choices including, “the grey, achromatic basin of the Reflecting Pool as the source of the pool’s profound reflective depth.”
The lawsuit continues, “The ongoing resurfacing of the basin in vivid blue has materially degraded Mr. Birnbaum’s aesthetic experience. Mr. Birnbaum’s aesthetic enjoyment of the Reflecting Pool — as a historic designed landscape whose character he has documented, championed, and personally appreciated over many years — is being concretely harmed by Defendants’ ongoing alteration of its character defining features.”
Many other critics and vocal members of the public have claimed similar harm resulting from the numerous renovations Trump is making in the nation’s Capitol — mostly without court approval or congressional oversight — including his demolition of the White House’s East Wing, his construction of a massive ballroom to replace it, the building of a towering triumphal arch, and the creation of a Hero’s Garden in a public park space along the Potomac river.
Painting the Reflecting Pool American Flag Blue may not be the most intrusive of these impulsive, self-aggrandizing acts, but it was the pigment that broke the camel’s back.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt, in blue. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
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The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Gustavo Dudamel conducting the 2025-26 season opener at Walt Disney Concert Hall on September 25.
(Timothy Norris/Los Angeles Philharmonic)
Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic The departing maestro and his colleagues are in the homestretch and it’s a busy one. This weekend, there are performances of world premieres of Roberto Sierra’s “Estudios Sinfónicos” (Friday and Sunday) and Angélica Negrón’s “Mundillo (Little World)” (Saturday, featuring YoYo Ma). Both new works are paired with Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40.” On Thursday, Dudamel celebrates the musicians of the L.A. Phil with an eclectic program including compositions by Rossini, Paganini, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Philip Glass, plus the world premieres of “Bravo Gustavo!” by John Williams and Gabriela Ortiz’s “Mujer Arena.” Strauss, 11 a.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday; Yo-Yo Ma, 8 p.m. Saturday; Celebrating the Musicians of the L.A. Phil, 8 p.m. Thursday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Grangeville A 2025 drama by the bard of Idaho, Samuel D. Hunter, the play considers the complex relationship of two half-brothers connecting virtually to discuss the care of their ailing mother. Tim Cummings and Jeff LeBeau star. Directed by John Perrin Flynn. Through July 12. Ruskin Group Theatre, 2800 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. ruskingrouptheatre.com
How to Have Sex Again The Rebel & the Warrior, a new theater producing collective, present their first L.A. production, the world premiere of a romantic comedy by Louis Reyes McWilliams. 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday ; 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. June 5; 3 and 8 p.m. June 6; and 7:30 p.m. June 7. June Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. sanguinenyc.com
Jodie Landau The composer-performer presents the West Coast premiere of “Performance of Self,” combining memoir, concert, cabaret with original chamber rock compositions, backed by a six-piece ensemble. Directed by Diana Wyenn. Part of OperaFest LA. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar The exhibition highlights the role of costume design in the artist’s life and work, including more than 200 objects, including photographs, drawings, garments, jewelry, artworks and historical materials from the 1950s-1970s. Opening reception, 5-7 p.m. Friday; exhibition continues through Aug. 22. Roberts Projects, 442 S. La Brea Ave. robertsprojectsla.com
Shelley Conducts America @ 250 Pacific Symphony concludes its season with incoming new music director Alexander Shelley conducting the premiere of Peter Boyer’s “American Mosaic,” with accompanying video imagery by award-winning photographer Joe Sohm. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. pacificsymphony.org
Leslie Uggams in 1972’s ‘Black Girl.’
(UCLA Film & Television Archive)
UCLA Festival of Preservation “Don’t miss your chance to see these rarely screened films on the big screen where they belong,” writes former Times movie critic Kenneth Turan in his preview of the event. The 22nd festival, which opens with Ossie Davis’ 1972 drama “Black Girl,” presents 11 feature films, four television programs and 30 short works, cartoons and newsreels, all newly preserved and restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and its partners and funders. Through Sunday. Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. cinema.ucla.edu
SATURDAY
Actor Alec Baldwin will narrate “Lincoln’s Portrait,” part of Pasadena Symphony’s America @ 250 concert.
(Pasadena Symphony)
America @ 250 The Pasadena Symphony’s season ending concert, celebrating the nation’s sesquicentennial, includes John Williams’ “Liberty Fanfare,” George Gershwin’s “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra,” and Aaron Copland‘s “Appalachian Spring” Suite and “Lincoln Portrait,” the latter narrated by actor Alec Baldwin. 2 and 8 p.m. Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave., Pasadena. pasadenasymphony-pops.org
Baroque in Bloom Soprano Amanda Forsythe joins the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for arias from Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” and Bach’s “Wedding Cantata.” The program also includes LACO’s principal bassoon Andrew Brady performing “Vivaldi’s Concerto for Bassoon in A minor, RV 497,” Telemann’s “Don Quixote Suite” and Biber’s “Battalia.” 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Rothenberg Hall, the Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org
From Hell to Hollywood: Films Music’s First Golden Age and the Émigré Community The Scott Dunn Orchestra performs the music of Arnold Schoenberg, Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Bronisław Kaper, Kurt Weill, Ernest Gold and Miklós Rózsa. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Life, Liberty, and Los Angeles Through historical and contemporary objects, media, art and community collaborations, the exhibition brings together stories of diverse Angelenos and demonstrates the ways their hopes and dreams built the city while reflecting the values of a burgeoning nation. Opening May 30-Jan. 31. Autry Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. theautry.org
Sydney Mancasola as Pamina in LA Opera’s 2026 presentation of “The Magic Flute.”
(Cory Weaver)
The Magic Flute LA Opera music director James Conlon’s final production will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s fan favorite about a prince, a princess and an enchanted instrument. Starring Miles Mykkanen in his LA Opera debut as Prince Tamino, Sydney Mancasola as Princess Pamina, Kyle Miller as the sidekick Papageno, Aigul Khismatullina as Queen of the Night and Kwangchul Youn and Sarastro. Through June 21 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org
The Satie Project The artists of Piano Spheres perform the complete four-hand works of French composer and pianist Erik Satie, plus seven newly-commissioned response pieces, alongside the experimental puppetry David Gordezky in what promises to be a truly zany show. 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Boston Court Pasadena. 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. bostoncourtpasadena.org
SUNDAY
Bleak Week: The Cinema of Despair Isabelle Huppert, Ari Aster, Denis Villeneuve, Werner Herzog and many others are the scheduled guests for the fifth edition of the global festival. The L.A. festivities, featuring 48 films from 18 countries, start with Béla Tarr’s 1994 film “Sátántangó” (2 p.m. Sunday at the Aero). Through June 7. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica; Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd.; Los Feliz Theatre, 1822 N Vermont Ave. americancinematheque.com
Exhibition photography for “Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon” at the the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
(Emily Shur / Academy Museum Foundation)
Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon A reevaluation of the actor’s artistry and image-making, the exhibition presents hundreds of original objects, including posters, portraits, photographs, production documents, letters, and rarely seen personal materials. A companion screening series also kicks off this week. Times culture critic Mary McNamara attended the opening and wrote about the enduring mystery that still surrounds the life and legacy of the film star 100 years after her birth. “Gentleman Prefer Blondes,” 6:30 p.m. Sunday; “The Asphalt Jungle,” 7:30 p.m. Monday, with guests author and filmmaker Mark A. Fortin, actor Jack Huston, author, filmmaker and actor Joshua John Miller, and journalist Nancy Jo Sales; “Niagara,” 8 p.m. Wednesday; and “All About Eve,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, with guest Vanity Fair contributing editor Lorraine Nicholson. Screening series runs through July 3; exhibition continues through Feb. 28. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org
Museums of the Arroyo Day The theme is “Life in the Past Lane” as five local institutions celebrate Arroyo Culture with a day of free admission. Noon-4 p.m. The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena; Heritage Square, 3510 Pasadena Ave., L.A.; Los Angeles Police Museum, 6045 York Blvd., L.A.; Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, L.A.; Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St., Pasadena. museumsofthearroyo.com
Now Be Here’s first photograph in Los Angeles, 2016, Hauser & Wirth DTLA.
(Isabel Avila & Carrie Yury, courtesy of Kim Schoenstadt, Now Be Here)
Now Be Here: 2026 Los Angeles Anniversary A decade ago, the organization launched as a means to “give visibility to women and non-binary artists, bringing equity to the art world,” and was commemorated by the above group photo. To mark the moment, Now Be Here and OXY ARTS present a free day of events (including a new community photo) open to all on the Occidental College campus. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road. oxyarts.oxy.edu/events
Tierra Craft Contemporary’s 4th Clay Biennial focuses on the work of Latinx, Indigenous and Black artists, emphasizing their deep connections to the geographies that yield the materials they work with. Also opening this week is “Earthen Comforts: Airing Earth,” a courtyard installation led by architect Liz Gálvez, the latest partnership in the ongoing experimental architectural project curated by M&A (Materials & Applications). Sunday-Oct. 25. Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd. craftcontemporary.org
TUESDAY
The Sun Rises in Harlem: Black Brilliance and the Harlem Renaissance The performing arts collaborative MUSE/IQUE, led by artistic and music director Rachael Worby, pays tribute to this transformative era in American arts featuring the music of jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Bessie Smith. With Kecia Lewis, Sy Smith, Leo Manzari, DC6 Singers Collective and the MUSE/IQUE Orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino; 3 and 7:30 p.m. June 7. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. muse-ique.com
WEDNESDAY
Colburn Celebrity Recital: Joshua Bell/Jeremy Denk Frequent collaborators, the acclaimed violinist and pianist perform works by Schubert, Grieg, Ives, Ysaÿe and Ravel in their first joint appearance at Disney Hall since 2010. 8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
THURSDAY
Bodytraffic The contemporary dance troupe closes out a 20-year run with its final three hometown shows, including works by choreographers Fernando Magadan, Cayetano Soto, Joan Rodriguez, Richard Siegal and Trey McIntyre. 7:30 p.m. Thursday and June 4; 2 p.m. June 6; the Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org
Arturo Sandoval The legendary trumpeter and bandleader, a protégé of jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, performs an eight-show residency at the Blue Note. 7 and 9:30 p.m., Thursday-June 7. Blue Note LA, 6372 W. Sunset Blvd. bluenotejazz.com
Spectacular Balanchine! American Contemporary Ballet continues its deep dive into the master choreographer’s work with dances from “Who Cares?,” “Stars and Stripes,” “Western Symphony” and “Union Jack” to music by George Gershwin, John Philip Sousa and Hershey Kay. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, through June 20. Bank of America Plaza, 333 S. Hope St., downtown L.A. acbdances.com
Arts anywhere
New and recent releases of arts-related media.
The book jacket for “Miles: The Autobiography.”
(Simon & Schuster)
Miles: The Autobiography May 26 would have been jazz legend Miles Davis’ 100th birthday and Simon & Schuster has released a centennial edition of his award-winning 1989 memoir, in which he reflects on his career, relationships and battles with racism and addiction. Also check out filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s 2020 documentary, “Miles Davis: The Birth of Cool,” featuring studio outtakes from Davis’ recording sessions, rare photos and interviews with Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Clive Davis, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Davis’s family and other notables. Simon & Schuster: 448 pages, $23; “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” streaming on PBS platform.
— Kevin Crust
Culture news and the SoCal scene
Daniel Harding, Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new music director, visited In-N-Out among other iconic L.A. locations upon his arrival Tuesday.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The big news of the week was the long-awaited, much-speculated-upon announcement of who will become the next music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic when Gustavo Dudamel departs later this summer to take his new role at the New York Philharmonic. Surprise (or rather not too much of a surprise depending on who you are and how closely you were watching), the L.A. Phil’s 12th music director will be Daniel Harding, a 50-year-old, Oxford-born conductor and part-time Air France pilot who made his U.S. debut as a young prodigy conducting the L.A. Phil at the 1997 Ojai Festival, writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed.
Gustavo Dudamel, the current Los Angeles Philharmonic music director, left, hugs newly announced L.A. Phil music director Daniel Harding, right, at Dodger Stadium.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The Times scored an exclusive ride-along with Harding the day after the L.A. Phil’s big announcement. His day included stops at In-N-Out Burger, the Beckmen YOLA Center and the Hollywood Bowl. The evening was spent at a Dodgers game with Dudamel where the two sported matching jerseys emblazoned with their names.
Artist Diana Thater’s new video projection at LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries will debut in the fall.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
We also got a first look at a new video installation scheduled to light up the underside of LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries where it forms a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard. Designed by artist Diana Thater, the installation was filmed in Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny, France, and will officially debut in the fall, after which it will run from dusk to dawn, 365 days per year.
Times contributor Jane Horowitz sat down with photographer Catherine Opie to chronicle a moment in time that finds Opie experiencing “one of the most visible stretches of her career, with work appearing simultaneously across Europe and Los Angeles. This includes a career-spanning survey at London’s National Portrait Gallery that will travel to Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy, as well as exhibitions in Kassel, Germany, and Trondheim, Norway. Closer to home, a new exhibit, ‘Holding Blue,’ opens May 28 at Regen Projects.”
Alicia Keys’ musical “Hell’s Kitchen” staged its L.A. premiere at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
