York Hall

The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200, and is now an international boxing venue.[1] The main hall also hosts concerts and other live events and other facilities also include a local gymnasium and a swimming pool.[2]

York Hall
AddressLondon, England, United Kingdom
LocationBethnal Green
Public transit Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath
OwnerTower Hamlets Council
OperatorGreenwich Leisure Limited
Capacity1,200
Construction
Opened1929
Renovated2005

History

The building, which was designed by the borough engineer and architect, A.E. Darby, and was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1929.[3] It started hosting boxing events in the 1950s.[3]

The historic Turkish Bath or banya in the basement was one of the last publicly run example in the East End of London.[4] In 1972 there were still six Turkish baths, a legacy of the high Jewish population of Russian and Polish origin. This included the traditional suites of Russian and Turkish steam rooms, sauna, relaxation lounge. However, the facility, which is owned by Tower Hamlets Council, was threatened with closure in 2004.[5][6]

After a major refurbishment in a joint project between the local Tower Hamlets council and Greenwich Leisure, the facility was re-branded as an upmarket Spa London by the council in July 2007. Treatment rooms were added to provide a range of upmarket beauty treatments and other facilities now include a hammam, large sauna, two 'aroma' steam rooms, several hot rooms, a bucket shower, ice fountain and plunge pool.[7]

The facelift included a state-of-the-art gymnasium that doubled the size of the previous gym area, a refurbished reception area and pool and new changing rooms. The gym features a newly installed functional area including TRX and Technogym's latest functional frame.[8]

The hall is also a popular venue for professional wrestling events, having hosted shows for major promotions such as TNA Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro Wrestling and Frontier Wrestling Alliance, among others. The hall hosted the UFC London open workouts in March 2019 featuring Darren Till, Dominick Reyes and others.[9] The Hall is also where the press conference for the first boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul took place in July 2018.[10]

Transport

York Hall is served by Bethnal Green on the London Underground and Cambridge Heath on the London Overground via Cambridge Heath Road, a range of local London Buses routes also give access, 8, 106, 254, 309, 388, D3 and D6 and night routes N8 and N253.[11]

References
  1. Boxing: Harrison calls for York Hall reprieve Sandra Laville (The Daily Telegraph) accessed 7 Dec 2007
  2. Europe Travel News. "Public spa for London's Bethnal Green". Europe Travel News. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  3. "York Hall – the history of the home of British Boxing". Roman Road London. 22 February 2019.
  4. "York Hall Turkish Baths, one of London's last remaining traditional hammam". Roman Road London. 1 September 2018.
  5. "York Hall - Saved! Feb 2004".
  6. Mark Gould (3 March 2004). "York Hall beats the count". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  7. "Spa of the week: York Hall Day Spa, Bethnal Green". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  8. "Work set to begin on revamp of York Hall Turkish Baths". HCM. 12 September 2005.
  9. "When and where are the UFC London open workouts and weigh-ins?". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  10. "Logan Paul storms out of press conference". Metro. 18 July 2018.
  11. "StackPath". www.bettervenues.org.uk.

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