Latest news with #MillenniumDome
Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Times
A new London arena could help with 2040 Olympic bid
The man who masterminded the Millennium Dome's transition into the O2 has told The Times he would love to build another arena in the city — and hopes a new venue could help in London's efforts to secure another Olympic Games. 'When you look at London,' said Tim Leiweke, the chief executive of Oak View Group, 'you're comparing with New York and Los Angeles — and they've got four arenas each. 'London is the biggest and best music market in the world. London's a big city.' Leiweke, who was born in St Louis, Missouri, was chief executive of the entertainment giant AEG from 1996 to 2013 and oversaw the company's overhaul of the Dome in Greenwich into what he now describes as the most successful
Daily Mail
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Diamond Heist: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Guy Ritchie-produced documentary series about the attempt to steal one of the world's largest diamonds from the Millennium Dome Year: 2025
Time Out
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
4 legendary London attractions turning 25 in 2025
Picture the scene. It's 1999, and the government has just spent £789 million building a giant dome-shaped building in southeast London. But what promised to be a turn-of-the-millennium world-class exhibition venue, ended up a bit of a dud. We're of course talking about the infamous Millennium Dome – now the O2 Arena – which turns 25 this year. The Dome was one of four major attractions that opened in London to mark the year 2000. Twenty-five years on, we look back at the iconic landmarks that arrived in the capital to herald in a new millennium. Millennium Dome Ah, 2000. It was a simpler time. There were no Lime bikes, or street vox-poppers, and barely any small plates restaurants. Perhaps one of the biggest scandals of the era was the misfortunate Millennium Dome, which opened on New Year's Eve 1999. After its bizarre opening exhibition, which offered an immersive human body experience, circus performers and a cinema, the dome eventually became the O2 as we know it today. Millennium Bridge The once wobbly bridge had to close immediately after opening when it was revealed it couldn't hold the weight of all the people crossing it. It's all fixed now, and is currently in the midst of a (delayed) £3.5 million makeover. Back in 2000 the London Eye was actually called the Millennium Wheel, and was the world's biggest ferris wheel. It was only meant to be temporary, but in May 2024 it officially became a permanent attraction. Phew! Tate Modern We're not sure where Londoners went to see modern art in London before the arrival of this behemoth in an old power station. The Tate Modern opened its doors to the public on May, 12, 2000. Second gallery the Switch House came later, arriving in 2016.
Daily Record
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Architect's family back fight for future of Perth's Bell's Sports Centre
The family of the Perth architect who designed the city's Bell's Sports Centre have thrown their support behind a growing campaign to keep the iconic building in use to its full potential. John Beattie Davidson designed the striking domed structure, built between 1966 and 1968, while working in the Perth Town Council architects' office headed by David Cockburn. Mr Davidson died in 1984 aged 52. His 93-year-old wife Jean and daughter Kathleen (58), who live in Perth, and his son, also John (62), have now opened up about their pride knowing their husband and father designed one of the city's most historic buildings. They have voiced their support for the Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network (PKCSN) campaign to retain Bell's as an operating indoor sports centre. When completed, the North Inch building's dome had been the largest of its kind in the UK, and the architects were presented with a Guinness Book of Records certificate. This record was held until the construction of London's Millennium Dome, or O2, in the 1990s. Bell's closed following flood damage totalling £2m was caused when floodgates were left open in October 2023. Its services – provided by arm's-length PKC external organisation Live Active Leisure (LAL) – were transferred to the Dewars Centre and the school estate in Spring last year. One option for its future – put forward in a Perth and Kinross Council survey – is the removal of skirting around the dome and making it an unheated sports space. But sports club group PKCSN has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money to assess keeping Bell's open as a heated indoor sports facility catering for a range of sports. Mrs Davidson said this week: 'The Bell's project was very much all in a day's work for John. 'I remember him making the model of the building and both of us attending events, including the laying of the foundation stone and the opening ceremony. 'When I look at the building now it doesn't look the same as I remember it all those years ago. 'I feel that it needs revamped. "I do hope the council can find a use for the building as an indoor sports venue as intended. It would be very sad if it was abandoned.' Daughter Kathleen – a pupil support assistant at Robert Douglas Memorial School in Scone – added: 'I have a great sense of pride that my dad designed the Bell's building. 'There is nothing quite like it. It feels very much part of my family and heritage.' Historic Environment Scotland (HES) stated that the purpose-built domed sports hall – B-listed in 2024 – is 'an exceptional surviving example of a new building type that developed in the second half of the 20th century.' The heritage body praised its surviving original features, including the exposed timber structure and use of good quality materials throughout. It added: 'The dome is the only one of its kind in Scotland and was the second domed sports centre to be built in the United Kingdom after the near-contemporary Lightfoot Dome (now the Walker Activity Dome) in Newcastle. 'Designed to accommodate a range of sporting courts and community activities, the building reflects the general increase in leisure time and the importance placed on health and well-being for wider public benefit during this period.' The Reopen Bell's petition, calling for it to be reopened as a multi-use indoor sports venue, was backed by 3,415 signatures as of yesterday (Thursday) . The PKCSN page urged: 'We are trying to ensure that the iconic Bell's Sports Centre in Perth is refurbished and restored to its former glory as a major sports and leisure facility for the residents of Perth, and the whole of Scotland. 'In order to persuade the council to change its mind, we need to hire a qualified architect, to carry out a detailed survey of Bell's, and produce for us a comprehensive report on the costs of, not only returning Bell's to its original status, before the flood, but also to improve several aspects of the building. 'Improved insulation, and the installation of solar panels, will reduce the cost of heating, and reduce the carbon footprint. 'An innovative heating system will reduce heating costs considerably. 'However, as we are not a company or registered charity, we are unable to apply for funding to carry out this essential work. 'The availability of local, high-quality sports and leisure facilities plays an important part in the physical and mental wellbeing of all of us. 'So, please be good enough to donate whatever you can, to help us keep the much-loved Bell's Sports Centre in Perth open, and help to return it to its rightful place, at the heart of sporting activity in Perth and beyond.' Last November the PA reported that almost all of the sports clubs displaced by the closure of Bell's had now found a new home. LAL chief executive, Paul Cromwell, told councillors at the time that the 'prompt' delivery of an alternative sports hall within the long-awaited £61m PH2O leisure centre on the city's Thimblerow car park is 'critical to meet future demand'. The proposal is to be discussed by elected members in due course.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Millennium Dome raider who left crime for middle-class family life
One of the Millennium Dome raiders' comfortable middle-class family life has been revealed. Aldo Ciarrocchi was jailed for his role in the failed attempt in 2000 to steal the £350 million Millennium Star diamond from the south-east London venue. The 55-year-old is now a millionaire father-of-two married to an American former fashion model. Ciarrocchi was responsible for setting off smoke bombs as a distraction during the failed heist. But the Metropolitan Police had been tipped off by an informer and snared the gang of seven in the act. Ciarrocchi, then 29, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. The priceless diamonds the gang were targeting were switched for fakes – and the plot has now been depicted in Guy Ritchie's The Diamond Heist on Netflix. Ciarrocchi now runs a reclamation site in Poplar, east London, with his model wife Elisabeth Kirsch, 49. 'I took a chance, I did something dumb,' he told MailOnline of the attempted robbery. 'I was young and I was stupid.' Ciarrocchi declined to take part in the Netflix hit but admits to 'forcing himself' to watch it. 'I know how the business works,' he said. 'They want you to tell your story and they're all over you for 20 minutes and you make out you were the mastermind of the operation, but I didn't want to get involved.' He added: 'Good luck to them, the police making out they were like the SAS and all that, but at the end of the day, we did a dumb thing, and when you do something as high profile as that, you're never going to end up in Spain with your feet up. 'The police are going to get you sooner or later – only in our case, it was sooner! The cops were so well informed, we were going into a suicide mission, we just didn't know it.' Ciarrocchi was forced to come clean to his daughters about his criminal past in 2020 when Ross Kemp presented a documentary about the robbery. 'We've raised two middle-class girls whose lives are as far away from my upbringing as you can imagine, but I just sat them down and told them the truth,' he said. 'It was sooner than I would have wanted to tell them, but that was unavoidable. I was an idiot and made a huge mistake. We didn't glamourise it and didn't try and make out it was clever.' Ciarrocchi was born to an Italian father and British mother in Bermondsey, south London. He left school with few qualifications and met his wife, a New York-born model, when he helped her move flat in 1998. She vowed to stick by him despite his imprisonment and the couple remain married to this day. 'You're wondering what an upper middle-class girl like me sees in a bit of rough,' she said after his sentencing in 2002. 'The fact that Aldo tried to steal the diamond doesn't outweigh all the good in him.' She added: 'I know that this is the last time he will be involved in crime.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
