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 hall, opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200, and is an international boxing venue[1] and holds concerts and other live events as well as providing a local gymnasium and 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

The hall is owned by Tower Hamlets Council and in 2004 was threatened with closure.[3][4] However, the hall was saved, and in 2005 it underwent a major multimillion-pound refurbishment in a joint project between the local Tower Hamlets council and Greenwich Leisure. The site is split into three sections: a leisure centre with pool and gymnasium; a Spa and a multi-use events hall.

History

The historic Turkish Bath or banya in the basement was the last publicly run example in the East End of London. 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. This popular and often full facility was closed and re-branded as an upmarket Spa London by the council in July 2007, amid vocal protests from its users. 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.[5]

Where customers used to give each other a massage with the traditional Yiddish schmeiss free of charge, they now have to pay £56 on top of the £21 admission, whilst treatments such as Hydrotherapy Hydration Purity Rituals have been introduced. Neal Hounsell, Head of Leisure Services at Tower Hamlets, justified the re-branding on the basis that the borough was one of the most deprived in London.

The York Hall Leisure Centre's 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 is blessed with a newly installed functional area including TRX and Technogym's latest functional frame.

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.[6] The Hall is also where the press conference for the first boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul took place.

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.[7]

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 - Saved! Feb 2004
  4. Mark Gould (3 March 2004). "York Hall beats the count". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
  5. "Spa of the week: York Hall Day Spa, Bethnal Green". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  6. "When and where are the UFC London open workouts and weigh-ins?". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  7. https://www.bettervenues.org.uk/venues/york-hall

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