Kelvin Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, is a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition centre in 1927. It has been a music hall, indoor arena and barrage balloon factory, and is currently home to Glasgow's Museum of Transport and the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena.
The nearest station to Kelvin Hall is Kelvinhall subway station.
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[edit] History
The Kelvin Hall stands on the bank of the River Kelvin opposite the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the West End of Glasgow. The present building dates from 1927, and replaced an earlier wooden structure that burnt down in 1925. It was designed to house large scale exhibitions, but during the Second World War was used to produce barrage and convoy balloons.
Over the subsequent decades it hosted many exhibitions, including the Industrial exhibitions of the Festival of Britain in 1951 and has also hosted motor shows, modern homes exhibitions and the Kelvin Hall Circus. Lions, tigers and African elephants all thrilled Glaswegians for years and many to this day can remember that distinctive animal smell when walking round the carnival after their circus visit.
However once the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre opened, the building needed modernisation. The building was converted to its present use in 1987.
[edit] Museum of Transport
Main article: Glasgow Museum of Transport.
The Museum of Transport in the Kelvin Hall is one of the most popular museums of transport in the United Kingdom, attracting half a million visitors a year. Founded in 1964, it moved into the renovated Kelvin Hall in 1987 and houses many exhibits of national and international importance.
[edit] Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena
The Kelvin Hall also houses an indoor International Sports Arena, which has hosted many international athletic events, as well as boxing, badminton and volleyball competitions.
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