Melbourne 1956: Heidelberg West Olympic Village
Designed to offer public housing after the Olympic Games, Melbourne’s Olympic Village is undergoing a process of renewal after experiencing social problems.
A village in its own right and designed as a new suburb that would help alleviate the state of Victoria’s housing problems at the time, the Olympic Village marked a departure from the tradition of housing athletes in dorms and hotels. Here, competitors and officials stayed in semi-detached houses and flats, while female athletes had their own quarters alongside the men, having been housed separately at previous Olympic Games.
Situated in the suburb of Heidelberg West, the village area faced social problems after the Games, and many of its 841 individual housing units fell into disrepair. A 1995 urban renewal and revitalisation programme transformed many of the dilapidated houses. More recently, the 10-year Olympia Renewal Project has seen the demolition of several hundred homes in the village and their replacement with modern public housing. The project aims to renew 600 units in all by 2022. The village has its own sports centre, primary school, shopping strip and community health centre, which is home to a training organisation and a legal service.
Further regeneration will come with the Heidelberg West Olympic Park Master Plan, which will redevelop the park – a training venue at the 1956 Olympic Games – and its sporting facilities, which are used extensively by local clubs and the community. The plan also involves the creation of an Olympic memorial garden to commemorate the park’s history.