London Has New Sport Centre

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 37, 6 November 1937, Page 18

London Has New Sport Centre

LONDON — London has taken a leaf out of New York's architeqtural book exhibition centre at Earl's Court over the top of six lines of electrified railway track. The practical completioh after two years'. work of this greatest of Britain 'sentertainment centres iyas - eelebrated 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 exhibition s' as the British Industries Fhir, the International Motor' Show, and the Business Efficien'cy Exhibition will 'be held here. ' ' First. visitors' to the centre ' ffelt it tvas the nearest appfoach 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 abiut the - main , arena bore testimony to the ..immense. size of the building' which covers .a 12 acre site, Yet the proportions of tjie concrete structure are so well balanced that it is difficult to apprchend its vastness. There are • 450,000 s'quare feet of floor. space for exhibitions. - The main arena has seating accomfiiqjSation for 20", 000 people. The floor -of the middle section comprises ,'thfee enormous hydraulic elevators. In a few minutes these operate to provid'e either a swimming bath 200 ,f eet by "100 !f eet; a series "of stages "of "the same- or different heights; or an ice xink. The xest of the building can also be divided up and altered to suit different purposes. Ease of Entrance and Exit. It-( is clg.imed that large scale spectacles, kaleidoscopie colour and motion and scenes suchT as have only been seen on the movie screen will be staged here. SpeciaL attention has been paid to ease of entrance and exit for the public. Its situation is such as to facilitate traffic control.. All daylighf has been eliminated from the exhibition area of the building, ensuring uniformity of temperature and light conditions. The scheme of lighting in the cejling of the arena is such tjiat any variety of -shade aiid colour can be producedi 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 of changed to gold or red, and so by the use of switches any colour or shade can be produced. All stands for exhibitions aVe so organizod that they can be equipped with cold water, drainago, gas, electricity 'and tclephone. Truclcs containing exhibits can drivo' straight on to lifts- and be raised* to Ihe fioor required before unloading.