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Original Text (Annotation: EPW012753 / 1442835)

' An isolated raised 'viaduct' section of the Never-Stop Railway existed here until at least the late 1960s. Very few of the original exhibition structures remain. Demolition of the BEE site started soon after the closure of the exhibition in 1925. Arthur Elvin, who had some success running a tobacco kiosk and later shops, during the exhibition, obtained the concession to clear the exhibition site and to realise the value of its scrap. He subsequently bought the Stadium (which was originally only intended to stand during the life of the exhibition) and arranged for the construction of the Empire Pool (Wembley Arena), which was built for the British Empire Games of 1934. Probably the last of the large original exhibition buildings, the residual Palace of Industry and Palace of Arts, was finally demolished when the new Brent Civic Centre was built on the site. The adjacent Palace of Engineering had gone some years previously. During WW2 it had housed 212 Maintenance Unit of the RAF. It was from here, at the end of hostilities, that many discharged servicemen collected their civilian 'demob' suits (very likely produced under government contract by Burton's tailoring). A few small buildings remain, adapted for light industrial purposes. Two of the three buildings next to the bandstand/Treasure Island feature and nearest to the camera, appear still to exist. I believe that they were originally restaurant or catering facilities during the life of the exhibition. '