York Hall
Encyclopedia
The York Hall is a health and leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...

 and one of Britain's best known boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 venues.

The venue is situated on Old Ford Road in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The hall, opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200, stages boxing as well as providing a gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

nasium and swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

.

The hall is owned by Tower Hamlets Council and in 2004 was threatened with closure. However, the Hall was saved and in 2005 it underwent a major multi-million pound refurbishment in a joint project between the local Tower Hamlets council and Greenwich Leisure. The site is split into two sections: a leisure centre and a hall with gymnasium.

The historic Turkish Bath or banya
Banya
Banya may refer to:* Banya , a traditional Russian steam bath* BanYa, a South Korean musical group* Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man, a comic by Kim Young-ohIn places:* Banya, Plovdiv Province, a town in southern Bulgaria...

 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 and upmarket "Spa London
SPA London
SPA London is a registered charity based in North London which was established about 1975 in the United Kingdom. SPA stands for Shree Prajapati Association and this is the London arm of the charity...

" by the council in July 2007, amid vocal protests from its users. Treatment rooms were added to provide a range of upmarket beauty treatments. Where customers used to give each other a massage with the traditional Yiddish schmeis 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.

External links

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