page_title: Wembley Arena
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wembley Arena / History
caption_attribution_description: Lietuvių: Empire Pool Wembley uždaras baseinas Londone pirmąją Europos plaukimo pirmenybių dieną. Londonas, 1938 rugpjūčio 6 d. Nuotrauka iš Valentino Vaškelio archyvo.English: Empire Pool Wembley in the first day of 1938 European Aquatics Championships. London, 6th of August 1938. Picture from famous Lithuanian swimmer and diver Valentinas Vaškelis personal archives.
context_page_description: Wembley Arena is an indoor arena adjacent to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London. Used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport, the 12,500-seat facility is London's second-largest indoor arena after The O2 Arena, and the ninth-largest in the United Kingdom.
context_section_description: The Empire Pool (also known as Empire Pool and Sports Arena) was built for the 1934 British Empire Games at Wembley, by Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its name. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The building is used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport.
  It was designed by the engineer Sir Owen Williams, without the employment of an architect. Williams built a unique structure, with cantilevers meeting in the middle, thus avoiding the need for internal pillars. He also used high quality concrete, meaning that it has aged far better than many more recent concrete buildings.
  Work on the Empire Pool began in November 1933, and it was opened on 25 July 1934 by the Duke of Gloucester. At the time it had the largest span of any similar structure in the world. As with the Stadium, construction was supervised by R.J. Fowler, Wembley's chief building inspector.
  Elvin introduced ice hockey to the new Empire Pool in October 1934. In 1976, the Empire Pool was awarded Grade II Listed status, recognising it as a building of special architectural interest, technological innovation and virtuosity. On 1 February 1978, the Empire Pool was renamed Wembley Arena.
  When the venue was known as the Empire Pool, it hosted the annual NME Poll Winners Concerts during the mid-1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like The Beatles (who performed there four times), T. Rex (whose Ringo Starr-directed documentary film Born to Boogie is centered on a 1972 concert at the Empire Pool); Genesis, David Bowie, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, The Monkees, The Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, INXS, Pink Floyd, (who played there on their 1977 "In the Flesh" tour). The Eagles on their Hotel California 1978 tour, The Grateful Dead, Dire Straits, who played there on their "Brothers In Arms" tour in 1985 and "On Every Street" tour in 1991, Status Quo, The Who, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, were among many others. The individual performances were then finished by a famous personality joining the respective performer on stage and presenting them with their award. The Beatles were presented with one of their awards by actor Roger Moore and Joe Brown was joined on stage by Roy Orbison, to present him with his own award. These ceremonies were filmed, recorded and later broadcast on television.
caption: Empire Pool Wembley on the first day of the 1938 European Aquatics Championships.
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