For over half a century, there has been a diverse and extraordinary array of sport and entertainment inside the distinctive Lexus Centre building.

Olympic Swimming Pool
The welcome Olympic Games transformation began in 1951 and saw the building of a new £A450,000 world standard swimming pool seating 5,500 people, designed by Peter McIntyre.  Architectually, it was said to be one of the most unique buildings in Australia at the time.

The Olympic Park Swimming Pool hosted the water polo, diving and swimming competitions.  Stars of the pool for Australia included Dawn Fraser, Lorraine Crapp and Murray Rose (who won three gold medals as a teenager).  All up, the Aussies won 8 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze in the pool.  The friendly atmosphere of Melbourne's Olympics is still the overriding memory for those who experienced the Games although one moment of discord occurred when the USSR and Hungary took their political differences into the pool in a water polo match marred by violence.



Melbourne Sports & Entertainment Centre
The Olympic pool was replaced by a parquetry floor in 1983, the 7,200 seat venue becoming the city's primary entertainment facility until Flinders Park was completed in 1988.  MSEC also became a centre for national and state indoor sport, hosting grassroots to international events such as the World Indoor Soccer Championships in 1988.  At the time the $10.5m renovation work was reported in 1981, then Chairman of the National Trust Rodney Davidson commented that the facility was "of the greatest importance architectually and historically".  The Melbourne Sports & Entertainment Centre hosted international entertainers as famous as AC/DC and legendary UK band Queen.  The value of MSEC was in its ability to facilitate a much needed repairs and maintenence program for all Olympic Park venues of the time. 

Basketball fever
The first NBL game at the Melbourne Sports & Entertainment Centre was a double header on 4 April 1984.  St Kilda defeated Nunawading and Geelong beat Coburg.  Momentum for the sport gathered and by 1987 the Entertainment Centre (or Glasshouse as it became known) was the home court for four NBL basketball clubs.  The huge boom in basketball continued - in 1990 and 1991 there were nearly 60 games played per season at the venue.  In 1992 St Kilda and Nunawading merged to form the South East Melbourne Magic and moved across the road to Flinders Park.  The Melbourne Tigers soon followed, the sport's popularity demanding more games being transferred to the larger capacity Rod Laver Arena. The Giants became the sole tenant however the Glasshouse did host Magic and Tigers games occasionally as the need arose.  The final NBL game was played on 5 June 1998 with North Melbourne defeating Perth.  The Glasshouse hosted 343 NBL games, more than any other venue in the NBL's history.  Most notably the venue held the Championship deciders in 1984, 1988, 1989 and 1994 and NBL All Star games in 1988, 1989 and 1991. The highest score by any player was 54 by Andrew Gaze for the Tigers against Illawarra in 1998.

Lexus Centre
Critical to the redevelopment of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre into the Lexus Centre was the return of this heritage listed building to its original shape. The building, the last venue from the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games retained in Melbourne, has been restored to reflect the key external elements of the original award winning design. Remarkably, this particularly interesting restoration was supervised by one of the building’s original architects, Peter McIntyre of McIntyre Partnership.

The building has been remodelled internally to become a new sports administration and training centre, offering efficient operational and athlete services, including a 25m swimming pool, hydrotherapy spa, theatrette, and administration offices.

The Lexus Centre serves as a centre of excellence for professional organisations and elite athletes. Its inaugural tenants, the Victorian Institute of Sport and the Collingwood Football Club, have based their business and athlete operations within the Centre.

Olympic Park is located approximately one kilometre from the Central Business District and is easily accessible via tram, train, bus, car, taxi and watercraft.

The author wishes to thank Mark Slocombe for his assistance with the basketball section.