Melbourne's Olympic Legacy Part 2
The
Melbourne Games were the first in history to house the athletes in a specialty
location as opposed to dormitories as other host cities had done previously.
For Melbourne the athletes would be allocated their own apartments, or as it
turned out semi-detached houses and flats. This wasn’t just a large building
like a hotel but a whole suburb. Thus, creating the now common term Olympic
Village. This wasn’t the only game changer, not only was it a new development
it was also the first time male and
female athletes would live in the same compound, albeit separated by a wire
fence. Given there were some 3300 athletes, the male-to-female ratio was almost
9 to 1 (this doesn’t include the other 1200 or so officials of both sexes, who
also shared the accommodation)
It may seem innocent now, but an Olympic village
full of fit young athletes in the 1950s and having both males & females
living together was considered a radical social experiment.
A rumour going around during the games was that a Greek pole-vaulter
used his talents to clear the fence looking for female company.
Several nations chose to boycott the Friendly Games -as they were dubbed- with heightened global tensions with the Cold War and the Suez Canal crisis dominating the media.
All up 67 countries competed but
one country chose not to stay at the Village, at first. For security reasons the USSR team refused
the Village and were housed on a Soviet freighter docked a Port Melbourne. The USSR
had invaded Hungary to quell a revolution less than two months prior to the
Games. However, diplomacy won over. It
was reported: …the USSR was persuaded to relocate to the village. It proved
an inspired move. The Cold War protagonists got on famously, apparently
indulging in vodka and rock n roll parties, and
going on joint excursions.
With this kind of reaction, you
can see how the Olympic Village became the mainstay in the planning of future Olympic
Games.
After the Games, the compound in
West Heidelberg, now exclusively referred to as
Olympic Village was allocated as public housing, and became a Housing
Commission area, the architecture similar if not identical to other areas
developed at the same time from Doveton to Broadmeadows and Jordanville to Sunshine.
It also suffered the same sort of disadvantages these areas tended to attract
by the early 1970s.
My In-laws live in Reservoir and I have to drive through West Heidelberg to get there, So, recently I decided to take a quick look at what once was the athletics village of the Friendly Games. After all these years I never realised I only had to turn left at one set of lights and I was there. Having studied photos from the era, I found the main entrance instantly recognisable. Mainly because of the prominent Olympic rings over the road where the original entrance was. What was the old police station and administration buildings is a strip of shops and a community centre. There seemed to me, that there was a level of ignorance by the building committee of the day, as they had named all the streets after events, vessels and places from the recent World War, in particular the Pacific theatre..
Not very fitting
for an event meant to draw nations together. Driving down under the rings
(Alamein Road) takes you directly into the original village. I say original
because unlike most Housing Commission areas, which have many of their older
buildings replaced with more modern dwellings, many of the 1955 flats and
houses still stand. The reasoning behind this may be that Olympic Village was predominantly
brick construction, whilst areas such as Jordanville and Doveton were fabricated
concrete and were only ever expected to last 40 -50 years. The other thing that
struck me driving around the tight and curved road with lots of parks and open
areas was ”Did they really fit nearly 5000 people in this little area?”
By today's standards, it’s hard to imagine this being the latest in
modern accommodation for elite athletes. But then I had a cheeky thought. They
were just amateurs after all. (anyone who plays amateur sport and has to travel
will not see the humour in this) This as an aside, the athletes of the
sixteenth Olympiad gave the complex a resounding thumbs up and the village was
considered a huge success and a massive hit with those staying there.
The area where the shops are littered with markers and monuments to the
1956 Games is quite interesting not just the information you can learn but how
many different commemorations there have been since the Games were held. I
recommend, if you are driving through this part of town take the detour. It’s
great reliving a wonderful part of Melbourne's history that is quickly coming
up to celebrating its 70th Anniversary.
