The West Heidelberg Olympic Village

The 1956 Summer Olympic Games is surely one of the greatest spectacles to ever been seen in Melbourne. One of only two times that the Olympics have been held in Australia and one of only three that they have been held in the Southern Hemisphere, the Games of 1956 are fondly remembered as one of the most best of the modern Olympic movement. One of the most notable aspects of the 1956 Games was the Olympic Village in West Heidelberg, about 10 kilometres north-east of Melbourne's CBD. Today it is h

ome to parks, schools, shops and thousands of people, but how did it get there and why is it still around? As background, Melbourne's bid for the Olympics was not without controversy. Financial difficulties and squabbles between various governments and authorities marred early preparations. It seemed for some time that the Games might have to be taken away from Melbourne and given to another city, such was the state of organisation in 1952-53. Importantly, there was also still a chronic housing

shortage from the end of the Second World War. Rationing of building supplies was also still in place due to a lack of materials, making construction more difficult and costly. This prompted some to argue that there were better uses for the limited supplies at the time than building sporting facilities and houses for only temporary use. There were also arguments about the Village's location. Initial investigations examined a number of possibilities, including the Melbourne Showgrounds and using

military barracks, but eventually the as-of-yet-undeveloped area west of Heidelberg was selected to build a brand new suburb from the ground up. The Olympic Games Construction Committee selected the site but Housing Commission Victoria was put in charge of planning and developing the site. This required a significant coordination effort involving several authorities, including the Board of Works and Heidelberg City Council. The location eventually agreed upon was the 48 hectares bounded by South

ern Road, Oriel Road, Doughartys Road and the Darebin Creek. The plan for the site followed the design thinking of the Housing Commission at the time. It featured generous spacing between buildings, over 10,000 trees and shrubs, and semi-meandering streets connecting into existing suburbs. You can find similar housing estates at Alamein in Ashburton, and other locations around Melbourne, as they were also designed and built in this period. Buildings came from several template designs used by the

Housing Commission, as was common practice at the time. A mix of single, two and three storey structures were carefully sited across the suburb. Approximately half of the 841 dwellings were built of brick or brick veneer, with the rest being built of concrete. The main entrance was provided on Alamein Road at the intersection with Southern Road. A small village centre was also provided, including shops, a post office, which was staffed with multilingual workers during the Games, and a dental cl

inic. Being an athletes village, a large amount of space was also dedicated to recreational facilities and parks. This is the present-day Olympic Park, which still has ovals and sporting fields. The only way in or out of the Village was via Alamein Road, which had a checkpoint and boom gate. There was a large three metre high metal fence erected around the entire boundary, presumably for security purposes, and to keep curious spectators out. Despite this separation from the rest of suburbia, thi

s was also the first Olympic Village ever designed to house all athletes and officials in a single place. This wasn't extended to different genders, however, as men and women were housed in separate accommodation and separated by a wire fence. Just like many other housing estates built at the time, the street names in the Village have a common theme. Being so soon after the end of the bloodiest conflict in human history and with so many returned servicemen and women around, the planners no doubt

had the Second World War firmly in their minds. As a result, the streets in the area are all related to the Second World War, primarily referencing the Pacific campaign. I won't go into that much detail as I could spend an entire video just on this topic, but the names include ships, battlefields and aeroplanes. This nomenclature almost caused an international incident. This was because Olympic teams from countries that were involved in the War would have lived or travelled along streets named

after battlefields where they were defeated - such as Alamein Road for Germany or Buna Street for Japan. So to avoid any embarrassment, some of the names were temporarily changed. The City of Banyule has recently installed some great new street signs, which also include a small explanation of the street and which teams it housed. They're well worth a look if you're ever in the area. Construction on the Olympic Village finally started in May 1954. It was finished in just 18 months at a cost of 2.

7 million pounds, or about $95 million in today's money. One of the key design features that became apparent when athletes and officials began to move in was that there was significant effort made not to separate or segregate different countries from each other. For example, at the previous Olympics in Helsinki, the Eastern Bloc countries were housed separately to everyone else, as the 1950s were firmly in the Cold War period. However, in Melbourne this was not the case, and teams from all over

the world shared the same street or even building. This was hailed as a great success and helped to contribute to the excellent reputation of the Melbourne Olympics as the so-called 'Friendly Games'. It was not without problems though. The tensions between the Hungarian and Soviet teams played out during the Games, as while the games were occurring, the USSR was in the process of invading Hungary and brutally suppressing their fledgling Revolution. Following physical fights between the two teams

, most famously during a water polo game in which Hungarian Ervin Zador was punched in the eye, a much closer eye was kept on the Village. Eventually as people began returning to their home countries, the remaining Hungarian male athletes were moved into the US team's quarters until the Soviets left. Many also defected, with a total of 48 refusing to return to Hungary and were granted asylum in either Australia or the United States. Overall though, the Village was considered a huge success. It r

eceived rave reviews from athletes and officials alike. The fresh air, abundant trees and spacious surrounds were apparently much appreciated, and the media reported favourably on the results. Following the end of the Olympics, the next stage of the Plan commenced. It was always intended that the Village be turned into public housing, to help deal with the chronic shortage of homes that I mentioned before. This required some alterations to make the suburb more suitable for everyday living, inclu

ding removing the boundary fence, converting some buildings into community use and changing the layout of the village centre. The first car-oriented shopping centre in Melbourne was also built at the same time as the Olympic Village, a little further south down Oriel Road. The Mall on Bell Street opened in October 1956 to service the rapidly growing surrounding areas. I will probably make a separate video about The Mall in the future, so when that is available there will be a notification if you

subscribe to my channel. Today, a surprising amount of West Heidelberg is very much intact. Most of the original residential buildings are still in place, although some have been demolished and redeveloped. Much of the area remains public housing, but some properties have also been sold off and some of the land uses changed. The large Olympic Rings still hang over Alamein Road, and the surrounding areas are littered with nods to the suburb's Olympic past, including on the base of bollards, in t

he nearby park and even in the name of the local primary school. It's a fantastic legacy for any major event to leave behind, and one that not many cities can boast. The Housing Commission was very proud of its work, boasting in its 1955-56 Annual Report that it provided "a new standard in Olympic accommodation and will bring credit to Melbourne and to Australia". West Heidelberg remains a close knit community that celebrates its Olympic connections to the past. If you are ever nearby, it is def

initely well worth seeing, to walk in the footsteps of the thousands of people who have been through this unique suburb over the past 65 years. Thanks for watching this video about the West Heidelberg Olympic Village. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to click the like button and subscribe to this channel for future videos. Also please get in touch in the comments or via my website, at philipmallis.com. Thanks and see you next time!