People's Palace

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This article is about the building in Glasgow. There is also a building in Romania formerly known as the Palace of the People.

Front of the People's Palace

Conservatory at the rear of the People's Palace

Hanging depicting the International Brigades fighting in the Spanish Civil War

The People's Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland are a museum and glasshouse situated near Glasgow Green, and were opened on 22 January 1898 by the Earl of Rosebery.

At the time, the East End of Glasgow was one of the most unhealthy and overcrowded parts of the city, and the People's Palace was intended to provide a cultural centre for the people. Lord Rosebery continued: "A palace of pleasure and imagination around which the people may place their affections and which may give them a home on which their memory may rest". He declared the building "Open to the people for ever and ever".

Originally, the ground floor of the building provided reading and recreation rooms, with a museum on the first floor, and a picture gallery on the top floor. Since the 1940s, it has been the museum of local history for the city of Glasgow, and tells the story of the people and the city from 1750 to the present day. The collections and displays reflect the changing face of the city and the different experiences of Glaswegians at home, work and leisure.

The building was closed for almost two years, to allow restoration work to be carried out, with the re-opening being timed to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of its first opening in 1898, and this is recorded on a plaque mounted just inside the main entrance. Renovations extended to include the Winter Gardens to the rear of the building, where the glasshouse was extensively restored and reglazed, and the gardens tidied.

During the 1980s, one employee gained local fame when she became a member of the General, Municipal and Boilermakers Trade Union, after NALGO refused her admission as a blue collar worker. This was Smudge, the People's Palace cat, who ensured the building did not become home to small, unwelcome visitors. Glasgow's Lord Provost made press appeals and police searches were carried out when she disappeared for 3 weeks in 1987, eventually re-appearing none the worse for wear less than half a mile away.