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Will Crystal Palace rise again?
Mira Bar-Hillel, Property Correspondent07.02.08
Plans for a replica of the original Crystal Palace are being worked on by architects and developers.
The original building was built by Sir Joseph Paxton in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, under the patronage of Prince Albert.
After being moved to a location in Sydenham, now known as Crystal Palace Park, it was destroyed by fire in 1936.
The plans for a new building, estimated to cost £220million, incorporate galleries, a snow slope, music auditorium, leisure facilities and a hotel.
They have been drawn up by the New Crystal Palace company, a consortium of local businessmen. It expects to submit the plans to Bromley council "in the next six to eight months". Company spokesman Patrick Goff said: "We want to put the Crystal Palace back and give the park a heart again. Our plan could be entirely funded through the commercial elements, with no money needed from the public purse."
However, a rival scheme for the park has been put forward by the Mayor's London Development Agency.
It is proposing the construction of 180 private houses in the park, despite local objections. The new homes would be built on the site of a caravan park. The £67.5million scheme also includes student accommodation, landscaping and various improvements to the park itself as well as a new regional sports centre that includes an indoor swimming pool.
Other buildings and structures proposed include a museum, park maintenance facilities, community facility, information kiosk, greenhouses, retail kiosks, cafés, lavatories, classrooms and children's nursery. The plans also include a treetop walk and water features-Bromley council's chief planner said the agency's plans did not accord with existing plans for the area, which is within the Crystal Palace Park Conservation area.
A spokesman for the agency said: "While there have been some calls to rebuild the palace, it is by no means the priority for the majority of people."
The original building was 1,848 feet long and 408 feet wide and included two huge towers and fountains with more than 11,000 jets rising into the air. It was Paxton's idea to move the palace and in June 1854 it was reopened in its new location by Queen Victoria.
The area became the world's first theme park, attracting two million visitors a year and hosting 20 FA Cup finals. A series of disasters spelt the end of the building, culminating in the fire.
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Reader views (6)
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Not only was Crystal Palace in its physical form important for the local area it is also an important structure in a global historical context for it ushered in the modern age, one in which was still live. The original building if it had survived would be a World Heritage site today. It is our duty to the foresight of the buildigns architect to rebuild an exact replica of even just part of the original structure.
- B Lee, London, UK
My beloved football club was born at this very place. We should have a brand new stadium along with the glass Palace. If it were in North London they would have built it by now. Come on Ken you are a Tulse Hill boy; give us a brand new splendid South London Palace.
- Colin, Brixton Hill, London
As a local resident who has seen the decline of this historical park over many years of neglect, I believe the plans for a New Crystal Palace should be welcomed. In their planning submission to Bromley Council, the LDA expressed a wish to turn Crystal Palace Park into a regional and even national attraction; however, I cannot see how the proposals in the LDA Masterplan will achieve this. More exciting ideas are needed.
The LDA's plan for a grid of trees on the top site to replicate the outline of the Palace gives only a feeble nod to the scale and grandeur of Paxton's original vision and lacks a convincing sense of purpose or function. This is particularly galling since that space is the most historically sensitive and interesting site in the park.
In contrast, the New Crystal Palace is truly an imaginative and exciting vision for the future of Crystal Palace Park, rather than the half-baked ideas the LDA propose. The project has great local support and is likely to obtain sustainable funding, being backed by an enthusiastic group of leisure and investment professionals.
Our park is called Crystal Palace Park; the area is known as Crystal Palace; but sadly we no longer have that famous landmark which gave them birth and significance to their names. A new, vibrant “People’s Palace” to echo Paxton’s grand design would be something really worth visiting.
- Eileen Withrington, Crystal Palace, London
