The building was officially opened on 8 October 1965 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, with the 34th floor restaurant opening the following May when it hosted Tony Benn MP and Billy Butlin whose company managed it until it closed in 1980.
Still an operational site, the communications giant uses the tower and restaurant to host product launches and corporate hospitality events. The tower also featured in a number of major TV shows and films, including a 1966 Doctor Who story and The Bourne Ultimatum.
Diners and sightseers interested in visiting the tower are invited to take part in a public ballot which will go live on Monday, 22 June 2015 at www.bt.com/bttower50 and close at 9am on Monday, 29 June.
A second ballot will be held the following week, beginning at 9am on Tuesday, 30 June lasting until 9am on Tuesday 7 July.
Ticket winners will be take up to three guests to lunch or dinner between Saturday, 25 July and Friday, 7 August. A four course lunch will cost £49.95 per head whilst the seven course dinner will cost £67.95 per head.
BT will hold a further ballot to offer more than 2,500 people the opportunity to visit the 34th floor this autumn when they will be served free drinks and snacks.
Gavin Patterson, BT Group Chief Executive, said: “I’m delighted we’re able to re-open 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 fifty years and what better way to celebrate that than by opening it to the public.”
