Wembley Arena |
Hob Uid: 1323788 | |
Location : Greater London Authority Brent Non Civil Parish
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Grid Ref : TQ1915085750 |
Summary : Wembley Arena was built in 1933-4 as the Empire Pool by Sir Owen Williams and is now used for entertainments such as concerts as well as sports. It has a reinforced concrete frame of three hinged arches spanning 240 feet which was the largest concrete span in the world at that time. The pool was 200 feet long and 60 feet wide with a deck for ice skating. The end of the building opens and used to lead to sun-bathing terraces and lawns. The sides have 15 massive concrete buttresses whilst the ends are gabled with 20 narrow lights of increasing height from the edges to the centre. The pool was used for the 14th Olympic Games in 1948. |
More information : Opened in 1924 for the Empire games the Empire Pool was designed by Sir Owen Williams. Located immediately next to Wembley Stadium it was the first indoor pool ever used at an olympic games in 1948. During the winter the pool was boarded over for ice hockey, skating and variuos indoor sports. These activites proved so lucrative that after the second world war the pool remained covered. To use it for the 1948 olympics involved scraping off all the blackout paint. Removing the sand and piping for the ice rink, which revealed the concrete lined pool had a crack in it caused by an exploding German land mine. This mean that during the games the water had to be constantly topped up. After the olympics the pool was drained and covered over once more. It now lies beneath a concrete floor. (3) |