Passage 4/6

Bute Heritage — 6 years ago

One possible cause for the brick layer shortage in Rothesay at the time of the Pavilion's construction was the diversion of labour for the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, completed in 1938. This was the second British Empire Exhibition and marked fifty years since Glasgow's first Great Exhibition. It offered a chance to boost the economy of Scotland, still recovering from the depression of the early 1930s. It required the construction of exhibition pavilions, the two largest being the Palace of Engineering and Palace of Industry. The most prominent structure was the Tait Tower (officially the Tower of Empire). Although it was intended to remain as a permanent monument after the exhibition, the tower was demolished in July 1939. The only surviving building is the Palace of Art. Despite 1938 being one of the wettest summers on record, the Exhibition attracted 12 million visitors.