Chinese developers invest to build replica of London's Crystal Palace, a Victorian wonder

FILE- This is an undated file photo showing the Crystal Palace built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, England. Britain’s Crystal Palace, the Victorian exhibition center that was once the largest glass structure in the world, will be brought back to life with investment from Chinese developers. Shanghai-based Zhongrong Group plans to invest 500 million pounds (US$ ) to build a replica of the iron and glass building as a cultural attraction in south London. The Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton for the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, was the world’s biggest glass structure before it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The plans, announced Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 will replicate the building’s Victorian design in the original size and scale. (AP Photo/File) (The Associated Press)

In this computer generated image provided by In-Press Photography, showing Shanghai-based Zhongrong Group's proposed design on rebuilding Crystal Palace on the site of the original Victorian building in south-east London. Britain’s Crystal Palace, the Victorian exhibition center that was once the largest glass structure in the world, will be brought back to life with investment from Chinese developers. Shanghai-based Zhongrong Group plans to invest 500 million pounds (US$ ) to build a replica of the iron and glass building as a cultural attraction in south London. The Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton for the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, was the world’s biggest glass structure before it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The plans, announced Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013 will replicate the building’s Victorian design in the original size and scale. (AP Photo/In-Press Photography) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – Britain's Crystal Palace, the Victorian exhibition center that was once the largest glass structure in the world, will be brought back to life with investment from Chinese developers.

Shanghai-based ZhongRong Group plans to invest 500 million pounds ($811 million) to build a replica of the iron and glass building as a cultural attraction in south London.

The Crystal Palace was designed for the 1851 Great Exhibition, when thousands of exhibitors around the world gathered to display the latest technology.

Originally erected in Hyde Park, the huge glass structure was moved three years later to south London. A fire destroyed it in 1936.

The plans, announced Thursday, would replicate the building's Victorian design in that south London location in its original size and scale, including exhibition space and public parks.