Design finalists picked for National Mall makeover

The designs are bold: a retractable theater that could seat thousands, a looping rooftop garden above a gourmet restaurant, and an underground pavilion with a cafeteria and bookstore.

Those are just some of the features that could greet visitors to “America’s Front Yard” in a few years, as the designs announced Monday will move on to the final round of the Trust for the National Mall’s competition to overhaul three prominent sites. It will be the Mall’s first major renovation in nearly 40 years.