As noted in last week's article, in the summer of 1925, Edinburgh politicians, officials and commentators had reacted with barely suppressed excitement to the news that the Kelviin Halls in Glasgow had burned down.
On the surface, all appeared to be well at the Industrial Hall, Edinburgh’s first purpose-built exhibition space, as a new year dawned.
On 6 January 1925, beneath a positive review for a similar show at the ailing Waverley Market venue, the Edinburgh Evening News sang the praises of the soon-to-conclude World’s Fair and Carnival:
We saw last week how, in the continued absence of large-scale commercial exhibitions, Edinburgh's first purpose-built exhibition hall on Annandale Street was struggling to justify its existence.
Sporting fixtures, dances and pageants on roller skates were all very well. ‘Sacred concerts’ and charity benefits created good publicity and raised the tone. But where was the money to come from?
In a successful bid to broaden its appeal to the wider public and sporting participants alike, the administrators of Edinburgh’s first purpose-built exhibition space began devising a series of competitive events with the added thrill of being played on roller-skates.
A roller-hockey match was staged on 31 March 1924 and a report followed next day in the Edinburgh Evening News.
The new season for the Industrial Hall on Annandale Street began modestly at the start of February 1924 with a fund-raising concert on behalf of the British Legion of Ex-Servicemen.
Our account of Edinburgh's first purpose-built, permanent exhibition space on Annandale Street continues in early 1924.
On 2 January, a record crowd of 26,500 people attended the World's Fair and Carnival in the Industrial Hall (today's Lothian Buses depot) over the course of one day.
The following account is from the Scotsman, 3 January 1924..
One week ago, we began this series with a brief history of how vacant land on Annandale Street came to be converted into the capital's first purpose-built exhibition space.
As reported in Issue 342, a commemorative red wheel has recently been attached to the boundary wall of the Lothian Buses depot on Annandale Street. It marks the importance of the site in Scotland’s transport history since 1926.
Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh street performers have recently been discussing how to better manage street performances in the city centre.
The problem of amplified music (Issue 334, p. 3) may be comparatively new, but the difficulty of preventing music-related nuisance has troubled Edinburgh authorities for years.
From the Edinburgh Evening News, 19 January 1904.
The new East branch of the Edinburgh Public Library, situated at the corner of M'Donald Road and Leith Walk, was opened last night, when Sir Herbert Maxwell delivered an address to a large gathering in the reading-room.