Alexandra Palace, London
| Palace for the People Ally Pally |
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Exterior view of the west wing (c.2008)
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| Address | Alexandra Palace Way London N22 7AY England |
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| Location | Alexandra Park |
| Coordinates | 51°35′38″N 0°07′48″W / 51.59389°N 0.13000°WCoordinates: 51°35′38″N 0°07′48″W / 51.59389°N 0.13000°W |
| Public transit |
 Alexandra Palace Wood Green
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| Owner | Haringey London Borough Council |
| Operator | Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust |
| Capacity | 800 (Panorama Room) 1,750 (East Hall/Ice Rink) 2,000 (Palm Court) 2,500 (West Hall) 8,250 (Great Hall) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | September 1865 |
| Opened | 1 May 1875 |
| Renovated | 1873–75, 1980–88, 2016—17 |
| Construction cost | £417,000 (£36 million in 2015 dollars) |
| Architect | Owen Jones, Alfred Meeson and John Johnson |
| Builder | Kelk and Lucas |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
| Building details | |
| General information | |
| Inaugurated | 24 May 1873 |
Alexandra Palace is an historic entertainment venue in London. It is located between Muswell Hill and Wood Green, in the north of the city. It was originally opened in 1873 but was rebuilt in 1875 following a destructive fire. It was designed to serve as a public centre of recreation, education and entertainment and as North London's counterpart to the Crystal Palace in South London.
Intended as "The People's Palace" and later nicknamed "Ally Pally" (supposedly by Gracie Fields), in 1936 it became the home of the world's first regular public "high-definition" television service, operated by the BBC. Although other facilities soon superseded it after the war, Alexandra Palace continued to be used by the BBC for many years and its radio and television mast is still in use. The original studios 'A' and 'B' still survive in the south-east wing with their producers' galleries and are used for exhibiting original historical television equipment. The original Victorian theatre with its stage machinery also survives. The theatre and stage structure is on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register. Alexandra Palace became a listed building in 1996, at the instigation of the Hornsey Historical Society.
A planned commercial development of the building into a mixed leisure complex including a hotel, replacement ice-skating rink, cinema, ten-pin bowling alley and exhibition centre, encountered opposition from public groups and was blocked by the High Court in 2007.
The Great Hall and West Hall are typically used for exhibitions, music concerts and conferences, operated by the trading arm of the charitable trust that owns the building and park on behalf of the public. There is also a pub, ice rink and palm court.
The Great Northern Palace Company had been established by 1860 but was initially unable to raise financing for the construction of "The Palace of the People", as the project was initially called. The building stock was eventually acquired from the 1862 International Exhibition held in South Kensington. Alexandra Park was opened to the public on 23 July 1863. The planned building was originally named "The Palace of the People"; it and its park were renamed to commemorate the popular new Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, who had married Prince Edward on 10 March 1863. However, the Palace of the People, or the People's Palace, remained as alternative names. In September 1865 construction commenced but to a design by John Johnson and Alfred Meeson rather than a glass structure initially proposed by Owen Jones.
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Wikipedia