Lexus Centre
Encyclopedia
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
of the AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
and the Victorian Institute of Sport
Victorian Institute of Sport
The Victorian Institute of Sport is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It runs a number of programs for sports training. The headquarters are located in Melbourne. The inaugural executive director of the institute was Frank Pyke....
located in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia.
The Centre is currently known as Westpac
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
Centre and was formerly known as the Lexus
Lexus
is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. First introduced in 1989 in the United States, Lexus is now sold globally and has become Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. The Lexus marque is marketed in over 70 countries and territories worldwide, and has...
Centre, due to naming rights.
History
Known originally as the OlympicOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Pool, it was built as an indoor sporting arena for diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, water polo
Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Ten nations competed in water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The event was open only to men's teams.-Medallists:-Results:For the team rosters see: Water polo at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's team squads.-Preliminary round:...
, and the swimming part of the modern pentathlon
Modern pentathlon at the 1956 Summer Olympics
At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, two events in modern pentathlon were contested.-Medal summary:-Medal table:...
events for the 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
. It was the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue in an Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and is the only major stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
structure from the 1956 Olympic Games with the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
intact. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
. The design of this building was the winner of one of three international competitions held in 1952 to provide stadia for the 1956 Olympic Games. Architects Kevin Borland
Kevin Borland
Kevin Borland was an influential Australian post-war Architect. His career saw works evolve from an International Modernist stance into a Regionalist aesthetic for which he became most recognized...
, Peter McIntyre
Peter McIntyre (architect)
Peter McIntyre is an Australian architect, educator and Practice Director of McIntyre Partnership Pty Ltd. Peter McIntyre (born 24 August 1927) is an Australian architect, educator and Practice Director of McIntyre Partnership Pty Ltd. Peter McIntyre (born 24 August 1927) is an Australian...
, John and Phyllis Murphy
John and Phyllis Murphy
John and Phyllis Murphy were architects in Australia. Phyllis was also known for her work with wallpaper design and restoration.The Murphys completed a number of conservation projects through the National Trust in the 1960s and 70s...
and their engineer Bill Irwin won the only one of these competitions to be consummated. Construction began in October 1954 and the building was completed in 1956.
After redevelopment in the 1980s, the venue became the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre and later The Glass House. It hosted home games for the National Basketball League
National Basketball League (Australia)
The National Basketball League, also known as the iiNet NBL Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Australasia....
's North Melbourne Giants
North Melbourne Giants
The North Melbourne Giants were an Australian basketball team, that played in Melbourne, Victoria, in the National Basketball League.-History :The team was formed in 1980 as the Coburg Giants and were renamed in 1987 as the North Melbourne Giants...
, as well as Melbourne Tigers, Eastside Spectres and Westside Saints. The arena, which had a capacity of 7,200 people, was also used as a concert venue.
Sponsorship and naming rights arrangements
The luxury vehicle manufacturer LexusLexus
is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. First introduced in 1989 in the United States, Lexus is now sold globally and has become Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. The Lexus marque is marketed in over 70 countries and territories worldwide, and has...
bought the naming rights
Naming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
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. The Lexus Centre was listed as part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.
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
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
bank was the new naming rights sponsor of the centre.