38-674: The Dimco Buildings are a pair of 19th-century structures in White City, London , just north of Shepherd's Bush . Originally built in 1898 as an electric railway power station , they are now in use as a bus station . The Dimco Buildings were constructed in 1898 to house an engine house and boiler house for the Wood Lane electricity generating station serving the Wood Lane depot of the Central London Railway (CLR),
76-869: A filming location for the Acme Factory in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , and later served as the interior of the British Museum in The Mummy Returns (2001). British girl group Girls Aloud also filmed the music video for their debut single " Sound of the Underground " in the Dimco Building on 2nd December 2002, just two days after they had been formed on Popstars: The Rivals . 51°30′31″N 0°13′23″W / 51.5087°N 0.2231°W / 51.5087; -0.2231 White City, London White City
114-519: A rugby league side, nearly became bankrupt. White City Company, owners of the stadium, decided to move the club to White City . Previously, only rugby union had been popular in southern England, professional rugby league being the preserve of northern towns and cities. Wigan Highfield became London Highfield with their debts paid. Their first try was scored by George "Porky" Davies, who went on to play for Liverpool Stanley and then St. Helens from 1938 to 1947. The White City Company lost money on
152-408: A July 1973 performance. Davies swore onstage, and at the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, declared his retirement from the group. He subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. He would eventually recover and return to recording with The Kinks. At a David Cassidy show on 26 May 1974, 800 people were injured in a crush at the front of
190-716: A new league team was formed, from the Oxford 'Rebels' in 1976. From 1976 until 1978, the stadium was home to White City Rebels speedway team. The team closed after only three seasons due to poor crowds levels, despite finishing the 1977 season as champions of the British League . The Rebels' most notable rider was England International Gordon Kennett . Other notable riders were Steve Weatherley , Trevor Geer , Poland 's Marek Cieślak and multiple Finnish champion Kai Niemi and Colin Watson (pre war). From 1979 to 1983
228-682: A number of years, the Dimco Buildings were refurbished in 2007-8 and now house the White City bus station , located next to the Westfield London shopping centre, one of the largest in Europe. Since 1988, the Dimco Buildings have been Grade II listed for their historic significance as the earliest surviving example of an electricity generating station built for the London Underground. The Dimco buildings were used as
266-835: A permanent move to White City and stayed at Loftus Road . Between 1932 and 1958, the stadium hosted major British boxing events, with attendances peaking as high as 90,000 for the second meeting between Len Harvey and Jack Petersen in 1934. The first major fight at the stadium was Len Harvey's unsuccessful challenge for the NBA Middleweight Championship versus Marcel Thil of France. Future heavyweight champion Primo Carnera suffered his only defeat on British soil here when he lost to Canadian Larry Gains in May 1932. Other important fighters to appear at White City include Jock McAvoy , Don Cockell , Nino Valdez , Henry Cooper and Terry Downes . In 1933, Wigan Highfield,
304-503: Is a district of London , England, in the northern part of Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham , 5 miles (8 km) west-northwest of Charing Cross . White City is home to Television Centre , White City Place , Westfield London and Loftus Road , the home stadium of Queens Park Rangers F.C. The district got its name from the white marble cladding used on buildings during several exhibitions when
342-790: The 1939 English Greyhound Derby final. The track was renowned for holding some of the sport's top events in addition to the English Greyhound Derby . They included the Grand National , the Oaks , the Wood Lane Stakes, the Longcross Cup and The Cambridgeshire . The final Greyhound Derby was held on 23 June 1984. The speedway track at White City was 380 metres (420 yards) in length. The White City stadium first held open speedway meetings in 1928 before
380-545: The 2001 BBC bombing . The bomb went off on Wood Lane, in front of the Television Centre news building. In October 2007, BBC announced plans to sell Television Centre as part of a cost-cutting programme. In June 2008, English Heritage announced its recommendation to list parts of Television Centre as a grade II listed building. In July 2012, BBC sold Television Centre to a partnership consisting of Stanhope plc , Mitsui Fudosan and AIMCo for £200 million. It
418-621: The Anglo-American Exposition (1914), which was brought to a premature end by the outbreak of the First World War. During this period it was known as the Great White City because of the white marble cladding used on the exhibition pavilions, and hence gave its name to this part of Shepherd's Bush . Apartments blocks for lower income residents were constructed in the 1930s. White City Stadium , in
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#1732790601649456-518: The GRA ( Greyhound Racing Association ) took over the stadium and in 1927, the track was grassed over for greyhound racing and speedway . They built new covered terracing and a restaurant. From 1927 until its closure, it hosted weekly greyhound meetings and was considered the top greyhound track in Britain. It hosted the sport's premier event, the English Greyhound Derby , until 1984. Just before and after
494-626: The Second World War attendances were huge, a record 92,000 spectators attended the 1939 Derby final. In 1931, a 440yd running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. Besides the AAA championships, major athletics events, including international matches, were held at the stadium. In 1954, in a match against Russia Christopher Chataway broke
532-737: The area was first developed, between 1908 and 1914. The area now called White City was level arable farmland until 1908, when it was used as the site of the Franco-British Exhibition and the 1908 Summer Olympics . In 1909 the exhibition site hosted the Imperial International Exhibition and in 1910, the Japan–British Exhibition . The final two exhibitions to be held there were the Latin-British Exhibition (1912) and
570-527: The centre close to the sites of closed former London Underground stations: Imperial College London purchased the BBC Woodlands site for 28 million pounds in 2009 and demolished it the following year. Sections of this second major campus started opening in most notably an "innovation hub" for the college, including research facilities and commercialisation space, as well as postgraduate accommodation. The chemistry department moved much of its research to
608-399: The engineer J. J. Webster and completed in 10 months by George Wimpey , on part of the site of the Franco-British Exhibition , this stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908 after the first stanchion had been placed in position by Ettie Grenfell, Baroness Desborough on 2 August 1907. The cost of construction was £ 60,000. Upon completion,
646-418: The exhibitions. The estate is served by an Anglican church, St Michael and St George (1955) on Commonwealth Avenue. On 30 October 2008, Westfield London opened. In July 2015, terrorists tried to blow up the Westfield London but they were stopped by police. They wanted the bombing to be around the same day as the 10th anniversary of the 7 July 2005 London bombings . Two stations were built to serve
684-620: The home of international speedway in Great Britain until it was closed in 1984. Following this international speedway moved out of London and north to Odsal Stadium in Bradford . The White City Stadium features in the climax to the 1950 film The Blue Lamp . It also appears in an episode of 1960s television spy series Man in a Suitcase ("Man From the Dead"), and was used in the 1973 film Steptoe and Son Ride Again . Some sections of
722-574: The match between Uruguay and France during the 1966 FIFA World Cup . In 1934, the American rodeo promoter Tex Austin staged the World's Championship Rodeo at White City Stadium. Champion cowboys and cowgirls from Canada and the United States participated, including Pete Knight , Weldon Bascom, Clark Lund, Ted Elder, and Vera McGinnis . The world's most famous rodeo bucking horse, Midnight ,
760-429: The modern marathon was fixed at these Games and calculated from the start of the race at Windsor Castle to a point in front of the royal box. The medal table for the 1908 Summer Olympics is also listed on a nearby wall. The original running track continued in use until 1914. There were attempts to sell the stadium in 1922, but several athletes in the team for the 1924 Summer Olympics used it for training. In 1926,
798-553: The new Molecular Sciences Research Hub on the campus in 2018, with further departments and industry partners moving to the campus and surrounding area over the coming years. The campus is also home to the Invention Rooms, a college hackerspace and community outreach centre. Schools in the area include Ark Burlington Danes Academy and Phoenix Academy White City Stadium White City Stadium in London , England,
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#1732790601649836-480: The northern section of the district, also known as the Great Stadium and seating 66,000, was officially opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908 for the 1908 Summer Olympics . The starting point of the marathon race at the 1908 Summer Olympics was at Windsor Castle creating a distance of 42.195 km (26.219 mi) or 26 miles 385 yards to the finishing line at White City stadium. In 1921, this
874-506: The precursor of present-day Central line on the London Underground network. The architect was Harry Bell Measures , who was also responsible for a number of station buildings on the original CLR. The power station closed on 18 March 1928 when power for the line began to be supplied from Lots Road Power Station . After closure, the buildings were taken over by Dimco, an Italian machine tools company. After falling derelict for
912-491: The process of redeveloping the site into White City Place , which will provide 5,000+ new homes, 2 million square feet of commercial office space, 30 acres of public space, and 19,000 jobs. To house the growing population of Shepherd's Bush, a five-storey housing estate was built in the late 1930s and after World War II , which also took the name of the White City. Streets were named after countries that had featured in
950-472: The site is now occupied by White City Place (formerly BBC White City). White City Stadium was principally used for greyhound racing for the majority of its existence. The first greyhound meeting took place on 20 June 1927. The stadium became the Mecca of greyhound racing with tens of thousands of spectators attending meetings on a regular basis, particularly in the 1940s, and 1950s. A crowd of 92,000 attended
988-479: The site providing connectivity with the local area, including Hammersmith Park. BBC Studioworks (formerly BBC S&PP) moved back to Television Centre in 2017 to operate Studios 1, 2 and 3. BBC Worldwide moved into office space in the Stage 6 building following extensive refurbishment in 2015. Landowners in the area, including White City Living by St James, Westfield London, Stanhope and Imperial College London are in
1026-401: The stadium had a running track 24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to the mile (536 m); outside there was a 35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a swimming and diving pool. Many events of the 1908 Olympics were at the stadium itself whereas nowadays there are many arenas. The Olympic rugby union final between Australia and Great Britain
1064-654: The stadium once again raced using an Open Licence hosting a number of high-profile Speedway World Championship qualifying rounds, including the Overseas and Intercontinental Finals during the 1970s, and 1980s. It also hosted the Final of the Speedway World Team Cup in 1976 , 1979 and 1982 . Following the end of speedway at the Wembley Stadium after the 1981 World Final , White City became
1102-571: The start of the Southern League, in 1929. A team from the stadium known as White City (London) entered the 1929 Southern League where they finished in 7th place out of 11 teams (after Birmingham (Hall Green) resigned for the league after racing 7 league matches). The White City team were due to race in the 1930 Southern League, but they withdrew from the league before it started. The stadium then ran once again using an Open Licence and held occasional one-off meetings between (1953–1958, 1961) until
1140-465: The venture and decided not to continue with rugby league. London Highfield was the precursor to London Broncos , the current leading rugby league club in London. In 1966, Wembley's owner's refusal to cancel regular greyhound racing meant the match between Uruguay and France in the 1966 FIFA World Cup was played at White City. The game attracted 45,662 fans. The stadium was demolished in 1985 and
1178-411: The video for The Human League single " Life On Your Own " were shot in the stadium in 1984, just a few months before its demolition. The stadium is shown in the 1956 comedy centred on greyhound racing Jumping for Joy . It was also shown in the 1960 episode of 77 Sunset Strip, "The Double Death of Benny Markham". The stadium was the location of a public outburst by Ray Davies of The Kinks during
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1216-412: The world 5000m record running against Vladimir Kuts . The one mile world record was broken there by Derek Ibbotson in 1957. In 1934, the second British Empire Games and the fourth Women's World Games were held at the venue. Also in 1931, Queens Park Rangers F.C. began the first of two spells playing at the stadium, until 1933 (the second spell was from 1962 to 1963). QPR eventually decided against
1254-646: Was adopted as the standard distance for marathon races; previously the distance varied slightly. After the Olympics, the stadium continued to be used for athletics until 1914, and, in 1927, it was turned into a greyhound racing track, although it was also used for short periods by Queens Park Rangers football club, and for other sports. In 1931, a 440-yard running track was installed for the Amateur Athletic Association Championships, held there from 1932 to 1970. It also hosted
1292-507: Was brought out of retirement for one last rodeo. The month-long rodeo was held from 9 June to 6 July with ten shows per week. Pathé News filmed some of the events. The Stadium was home to the White City Rebels motorcycle speedway team, part of the inaugural British League in 1929 and from 1976 to 1978. Speedway was run first in 1928 and occasional meetings were run from 1953 to 1958, in 1961 and from 1979 to 1983. The stadium
1330-428: Was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics . It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 World Cup . From 1927, it was a venue for greyhound racing, hosting the English Greyhound Derby until its closure in 1984. The stadium was demolished in 1985 and the site is now occupied by White City Place . Designed by
1368-687: Was demolished starting in late 1984 to make way for the BBC White City building. The athletes of the 1908 Summer Olympics are commemorated with a list inscribed on the side of the BBC Broadcast Centre Building, and the athletics finish line is marked in the paving outside the building. In 1960, BBC Television Centre was built at the former site of the White City Stadium. It was damaged by the Real IRA in
1406-400: Was held in the stadium on 26 October 1908 and events such as archery and gymnastics took place at White City, while some others took place at Queens Club . Swimming was held at White City, in a 100 metres long pool dug in the infield. The position of the finish line for the marathon in the 1908 Summer Olympics is commemorated by a marker in the plaza that now stands there. The distance of
1444-408: Was redeveloped but original features of the buildings including the "doughnut", atomic dot wall and Helios statue were retained. The redeveloped Television Centre was opened to the public and will offer entertainment and leisure facilities, including a new branch of members' club Soho House, offices aimed at the creative sector and approximately 1,000 new homes, together with pedestrian access through
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