This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/19/bt-tower-restaurant-to-reopen-to-public

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
BT Tower restaurant to reopen to public BT Tower restaurant to reopen to public
(35 minutes later)
The restaurant at the top of the BT Tower is to reopen to the public as part of the building’s golden anniversary celebrations. With a cocktail bar and revolving floor, the restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower was a swanky destination in the 1960s and 70s before it closed it doors to the public in 1980. This summer, to celebrate its fiftieth birthday, the building now known as BT Tower will briefly re-open to the general public.
The reopening, for two weeks, will enable diners to eat in the revolving restaurant which boasts dramatic views across London. For two weeks a pop-up restaurant on the 34th floor will serve lunch or dinner to 1,400 diners selected at random through a public ballot. Diners – who do not have to be BT customers - will be able to enjoy the panoramic view as the revolving floor is pressed back into service.
The 180-metre tall wower, which has featured in several films and a series of Doctor Who, was officially opened by then prime minister Harold Wilson on 8 October 1965, with the public restaurant opened by Tony Benn and Billy Butlin the following year. The event celebrates half a century since the tower was officially opened by prime minister Harold Wilson on 8 October 1965, and comes just as BT’s pay television service embarks on its third season of Premier League football coverage.
The tower was closed to the public in 1971, while the restaurant remained open until 1980. An landmark of the London skyline, the modernist masterpiece has been described as “a supermodel version of a Dalek”. It has featured in numerous television shows and films, including Doctor Who and The Bourne Ultimatum, and was “destroyed” in an episode of the Goodies sketch show by a giant feline called Kitten Kong.
Gavin Patterson, BT Group chief executive, said: “I’m delighted we’re able to reopen the restaurant to the public. The BT Tower was a unique feat of engineering when it was first built and it remains an important and much loved building today. It has been a working icon of technological innovation for 50 years and what better way to celebrate that than by opening it to the public.” Today, BT Tower serves as a television network switching centre, while the scrolling electronic sign at its summit announced the birth of Princess Charlotte earlier this year. The building is let out for charity events but public access is limited.
BT will hold a ballot among members of the public to visit the restaurant. “The BT Tower was a unique feat of engineering when it was first built and it remains an important and much loved building today,” said BT boss Gavin Patterson. “It has been a working icon of technological innovation for fifty years and what better way to celebrate that than by opening it to the public.”
The restaurant reopens from Saturday 25 July to Friday 7 August, and anyone over the age of 18 will be able to enter the ballot. A four course set menu lunch will cost £50 per head, with each ticket holder able to bring up to three guests, while a seven course dinner will be charged at £68.
In the 1960s, 4,000 visitors a day rode the lifts to the observation tower. The novelty faded and the building has been closed to the public since the 1980s, but BT said there was now renewed interest as Londoners rediscover a taste for 1960s architecture.
According to an a 1966 Look at Life episode, Top of the Tower restaurant served 800 lunches and 1,300 dinners every day, with food ferried to the kitchens each morning from the basement store rooms. This year’s pop-up restaurant will be on a smaller scale. With one sitting a day, diners should be able to keep their table for several hours. The first ballot will open on www.bt.com/bttower50 at 9am on Monday, 22 June 2015.
A second balloted opening is planned for this autumn, with 2500 places for free drinks and snacks at the top of the tower.