York Hall facts for kids
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| Address | London, England, United Kingdom |
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| Location | Bethnal Green |
| Public transit |  Bethnal Green,  Cambridge Heath |
| Owner | Tower Hamlets Council |
| Operator | Greenwich Leisure Limited |
| Capacity | 1,200 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1929 |
| Renovated | 2005 |
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. The main hall also hosts concerts and other live events and other facilities also include a local gymnasium and a swimming pool.
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. It started hosting boxing events in the 1950s.
The historic Turkish Bath or banya in the basement was one of 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. However, the facility, which is owned by Tower Hamlets Council, was threatened with closure in 2004.
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.
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.
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. The Hall is also where the press conference for the first boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul took place in July 2018.
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.
