Wednesday 7 March 2012

Pool cards : Melbourne Olympic swimming stadium


This one is cheating a bit. Not really a postcard. It's a swap card. Mum saw Dawn Fraser winning a gold medal here at the 1956 Olympics.



From Wikipedia: This pool was the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue in an Olympic Games and is the only major stadium structure from the 1956 Olympic Games with the facade intact. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

After redevelopment in the 1980s, the venue became the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre and later The Glass House.

The luxury vehicle manufacturer Lexus bought the naming right to the venue in 2004; as the Lexus Centre, it no longer served as a public stadium, instead being used by the Victorian Institute of Sport and the Collingwood Football Club as a sports administration and training facility.

On 21 November 2009, Collingwood Football Club announced publicly on the official AFL website that Lexus would no longer continue to maintain the rights of naming the centre. Lexus announced in a statement that "the branding exercise had achieved its marketing objectives and was no longer a priority in its marketing strategy", hence ending a six year naming rights deal between Lexus and Collingwood.
In March, 2010, Collingwood announced that Westpac bank was the new naming rights sponsor of the centre.

12 comments:

Emma said...

Hi Sally. Love you blog, so atmospheric. I stumbled upon it as I'm researching locations for a short film and we require an indoor pool that wouldn't look out of place in the 70's. I know you seem to have a quite a lot of knowledge of NSW and outdoor pools in VIC but I was wondering if you knew of any indoor one in VIC with a vintage feel? Thanks for the inspiration too!

Cathy Newman said...

It's good to see those Olympic memorabilia intact, just like the structure used in the Games – the Melbourne swimming stadium, for example. Did you get other souvenirs from the event? It would be nice to see them all!

Phil Woolgar said...

I was actually at this venue in 1995 and it hasn't changed a bit. I think even the seating is the original. They've definitely changed the way they install underground pools, but this one is a classic.

Phil Woolgar said...

Wow. I was actually at this pool in 1998 or '99. It's amazing they've kept it up to its former glory. It's also interesting how pools have changed so much. The installation is completely different now.

John Arthur - Pool Paint said...

Really love your posts, so nostalgic, yet at the same time very informative. It’s great to know all these interesting facts from your posts. Keep it up!

plumbing said...

Thanks for posting the history of this Olympic pool. Many sports event have their own sponsor as part of their marketing strategy.

John said...

Hi Sally, love your blog. I have swamk lots of laps in the old Melbourne Aquatic Centre. Especially the one that was on Batman ave. The new one in Albert Park is amazing with a fantastic atmosphere.

Sally said...

Great to hear, John, will have to try it next time I am in Melbourne.

Lizzie said...

Hi Sally,

Do you have any idea what happened to the NSW Ocean Baths website?

Failing that, do you happen to have the info it contained about Coledale pool?

I had it bookmarked but sadly didn't print it off.

Your blog is lovely and I'll take a closer look soon.

Many thanks,

Lizzie

Warwick said...

Hi Sally, What an amazing blog. Where did you find all theses postcards?

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