Latest Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust board meeting hears updates on a number of different projects, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Work on a derelict site at Alexandra Palace has begun and multiple consultations to improve parkland areas are ongoing, a meeting of the venue’s board has heard.

At the board meeting yesterday (Monday 26th) Emma Dagnes, Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust’s chief executive, said the consultation Shaping the Grove had gone live and already had over 500 responses.

The public engagement exercise is being carried out to “explore potential long-term improvements” to the area, situated on the west side of the park, and meet the “future needs of key stakeholders and tenants”.

Following consultation, ideas raised during the survey will be tested at two free events in April, after which a report will be produced to summarise findings.

Emma confirmed work on the north-east office building, which sits to the right of the palace’s main entrance, had started. The east wing site is described as a “significant area of dereliction” and has been inaccessible to the public for decades.

But thanks to a recent £550,000 grant from Historic England, work to restore the north-east office has now begun.

This forms part of the “next phase” in the trust’s east wing restoration project which has already seen the building’s theatre and east court “restored and transformed”.

But the same could not be said for the Campsbourne Building, located in the south-east corner of Alexandra Park.

The area has been under “long-term” consideration with an aim to “reactivate” the site to improve east-west connectivity, enhance biodiversity and the visitor experience.

Emma said the team didn’t have the funding to “do the work that is necessary” on the building itself, which is not open to the public, and said they were “working to find a solution”.

An online visitor survey was also launched in October last year to gather opinions and feedback on the skatepark, playground and boating lake located in the northern area of the park.

The reason for the launch was to “build a case” for the team to move forward with “improvement projects” in the area and to help apply for funding.

The ‘People’s Picture’, a mural project, is currently “in development” and is set to be on display in the east court of Alexandra Palace “later in the year”.

The project is being done in collaboration with visual artist Helen Marshall, who will create the artwork using people’s “memories and connection” to the palace for inspiration.

To feature in the work people are being asked to take a selfie or photograph with a short story about a memory of Alexandra Palace. The pictures will all be used to construct the piece.

A business model for a cafe/restaurant in the east court is currently being “fleshed out” added Emma. Due to the building’s Grade 2-listed status, plans have been “ongoing for quite a long time” and require “a number of steps”.

The team have had a long-standing aspiration to have a permanent catering offer in the east court. The board’s report said layout designs were currently being worked on, after which there would be a discussion with Haringey Council prior to a formal application being made later in the year.

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