London Has New Sport Centre

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 258, 30 October 1937, Page 11

London Has New Sport Centre

LONDON—London has taken a leaf out of New York's architectural book exhibition centre at Earl's Court over the top of six lines of electrified railway track. The practical completion after two years' work of this greatest of Britain’s entertainment centres was celebrated here recently at a lunch. Costing £1,500,000, the Earl's Court centre will also play an important part in tho economic life of Britain, for such exI hibitions as the British Industries Fair, the International Motor Show, and the Business Efficiency Exhibition will be held here. First visitors to the centre felt it was the nearest approach they had yet seen to H. G. Wells' fantastic world of the future as shown in several films. Viewed from a balcony the little people moving about tho main arena boro testimony to the immense size of the building which covers a 12 aero site. Yet the proportions of the concrete structure are so well balanced that il is difficult to apprehend its vastness. There aro 450,000 square feet of floor space for exhibitions. The main arena has seating accommodation for 20,000 people. The floor of the middle section comprises three enormous hydraulic elevators. In a few minutes these operate to provide either a swimming bath 200 feet by 100 feet; a sbries of stages of the same or different heights; or an ice rink. The rest of the building can also be divided up and altered to suit different purposes. Ease of Entrance and Exit. It is claimed that large scale spectacles, kaleidoscopic colour and motion and scenes such as have only been seen on the movie screen will bo staged here. Special attention ha? been paid to ease of entrance and exit for the public. Its situation is such as to facilitate traffic control. All daylight has been eliminated from the exhibition area of tho building, ensuring uniformity of temperature and light conditions. Tho scheme of lighting in the ceiling of the arena is such that any variety of shade and colour can be produced. By the operation of a single central board, resembling nothing more than an organ console, at one moment the floodlights can be dimmed and over the ceiling steal shades of blue; these can be faded or changed to gold or red, and so by the use of switches any colour or shade can be produced. All stands for exhibitions aro so [organized that they can be* equipped with cold water, drainage, gas, electricity and telephone. Trucks containing exhibits can drive straight on (to lifts and be raised to tho floor roauired before unloading.