Empire Exhibition, Scotland

The Empire Exhibition was an international Exhibition held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, Scotland, from May to December 1938.

The Exhibition offered a chance to showcase and boost the economy of Scotland and celebrate Empire trade and developments, recovering from the depression of the 1930s. It also marked fifty years since Glasgow's first great exhibition, the International Exhibition (1888) held at Kelvingrove Park. It was the second British Empire Exhibition, the first held at Wembley Park, London, in 1924 and 1925. Its function was similar to the first National Exhibition in Paris in 1798 and to the first International Exhibition, the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, attended by 6 million visitors. It was declared open by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on 3 May 1938 at the Opening Ceremony in Ibrox Stadium, attended by 146,000 people. In addition to the Royal Patrons and the Honorary Presidents representing governments and institutions here and in the Dominions, the Exhibition President was the Earl of Elgin, President of the Scottish Development Council, and initiators of the exhibition.

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House for an Art Lover

The House for an Art Lover is an arts and cultural centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The building was constructed between 1989 and 1996 based on a 1901 Art Nouveau house design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret MacDonald. The house is situated in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park and sits east of the site of the Festival Tower of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland of 1938. The idea to actually build the house from the Mackintoshs' designs came from Graham Roxburgh, a civil engineer in Glasgow who had done refurbishment work on the Mackintosh interiors in Craigie Hall. The house is a prominent example of the Modern Style. It serves as a venue for art exhibitions and other events, as well as being itself a visitor attraction.

Tait Tower

Tait Tower (also known as Tait's Tower and officially as the Tower of Empire) was a tower in the art deco style constructed at the summit of Ibrox Hill in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow in Scotland as part of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938. It was designed by Thomas S. Tait, stood 300 feet (91 metres) high and had three separate observation decks which provided a view of the surrounding gardens and city. Due to both the height of the tower and the hill it was built on, it could be seen 100 miles (160 km) away. The tower was the centrepiece of the Empire Exhibition and its image featured on many of the souvenirs that could be bought at the exhibition site. The Empire Exhibition took place at a time when Glasgow was the centre of British shipbuilding and engineering, and the materials – steel beams riveted together and clad in corrugated steel – were produced by Glasgow manufacturing plants. Tait's design and readily available materials made it possible for the tower to be constructed in only nine weeks. The tower was dismantled in July 1939 after the exhibition closed. The foundations remain at Bellahouston Park. Thomas' son Gordon Tait also worked on the project. In December 2007, the Tait Tower was included in a 3D graphic reconstruction of the Empire Exhibition by the Digital Design Studio at Glasgow School of Art, sourced from contemporary photographs, film footage, sketches and drawings from the archive of the Mitchell Library.

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Bellahouston Park Halt railway station

Bellahouston Park Halt railway station served the district of Bellahouston, Glasgow, Scotland, from 1938 to 1939 on the Paisley Canal line.

Bellahouston Park

Bellahouston Park ( bel-a-HOOS-tən; Scottish Gaelic: Pàirc Bhaile Ùisdean) is a public park in the Bellahouston district on the South Side of Glasgow, Scotland, between the areas of Craigton, Dumbreck, Ibrox and Mosspark covering an area of 71 hectares (180 acres). The main part of Bellahouston Park was acquired by Glasgow Corporation in 1895 for the sum of £50,000, and opened to the public in 1896. Three years later, the city's second municipal golf course was established at Bellahouston, following the success of the course at Alexandra Park. The park was extended in 1901 by the addition of a part of Dumbreck Lands purchased for £2,824 from Sir John Stirling-Maxwell. A further addition was made in 1903, at a cost of £40,222, by including the lands of Ibroxhill, from which commanding views of the city are available. In 1938 the Empire Exhibition was held at the park. The site took fourteen months to build. The price of admission was one shilling, and 12.5 million visits were recorded. The exhibition made a loss of £130,000. Of the 200 palaces and pavilions that were built for the exhibition, only the Palace of Art remains. It now serves as a Sports Excellence Centre. A stone Peace Cairn built for the exhibition is still visible from the rock garden. In 1996 Charles Rennie Mackintosh's House for an Art Lover was completed from original drawings of 1901, and now serves as centre for the visual arts. It is based around Bella hill, created for the great Empire Exhibition. It has commanding views over most of the city, although views to the east are obscured by trees, and those to the south by hills in Mosspark. Views include that of Ballageich (Balagich) hill, rising to 1,084 feet (330 m) on the southern horizon in East Renfrewshire.