Wembley Arena
| Wembley Arena | |
 |
|
Arena frontage
|
|
| Full name | The SSE Arena, Wembley |
|---|---|
| Former names | Empire Pool (1934–78) Wembley Arena (1978–2014) |
| Location | Wembley, London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°33′29.10″N 0°16′58.70″W / 51.5580833°N 0.2829722°WCoordinates: 51°33′29.10″N 0°16′58.70″W / 51.5580833°N 0.2829722°W |
| Public transit |
 Wembley Park Wembley Stadium
|
| Owner | Quintain |
| Operator | Anschutz Entertainment Group |
| Capacity | 12,500 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1934 |
| Renovated | 2005–06 |
| Architect | Arthur Elvin |
| Website | |
| ssearena |
|
Wembley Arena /ˈwɛmbli/ (originally the Empire Pool and currently called the SSE Arena, Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena located in Arena Square, Engineers Way, Wembley Park, Wembley, London.
It was built for the 1934 British Empire Games at Wembley, by Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The building is used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport.
The venue was renovated, along with Wembley Stadium, as part of the early-21st-century regeneration of the Wembley Park area. The arena refurbishment cost £35m and the new arena opened to the public on 2 April 2006, with a concert by the English electronic-music band Depeche Mode.
With 12,500 seats, it is London's second-largest indoor arena after The O2.
In September 2013, it was announced that AEG Facilities had signed a 15-year contract to operate the arena.
The building was renamed The SSE Arena on 1 June 2014 after SSE plc bought the naming rights to the venue for 10 years.
In March 1959, the All Star Record Show featured Petula Clarke, Shirley Bassey, Lonnie Donnegan, Dickie Valentine, Vera Lynn, the Kaye Sisters and Alma Cogan, with assistance from Bernard Bresslaw and the ever popular Peter Sellers. The Starlight Dance, of 17th October that year, had a similar line-up, with support from the other performers from film and television such as Bob Monkhouse, Roy Castle and Bernard Bresslaw again. When the venue was known as the Empire Pool, it hosted the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners' concert during the mid-1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like The Beatles (who performed there three times), T. Rex (whose Ringo Starr-directed documentary film Born to Boogie is centered on a 1972 concert at the Empire Pool); David Bowie, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, The Monkees, The Hollies, Dusty Springfield, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, (who played there on their 1977 "In the Flesh" tour). The Grateful Dead, 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 Cliff Richard was joined on stage by Roy Orbison, to present him with his own award. These ceremonies were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television.
...
Wikipedia