 | |
 Interactive map of KGM Centre | |
| Former names | Swimming and Diving Stadium (1956) Olympic Swimming Stadium (1957–1983) Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (1983–1998) Lexus Centre (2004–2010) Westpac Centre (2010–2015) Holden Centre (2015–2022) AIA Vitality Centre (2022–2025) |
|---|---|
| Location | Olympic Blvd and Batman Ave Olympic Park Melbourne,VIC 3000 Australia |
| Owner | Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust |
| Capacity | 7,200 (1983–1998) 5,500 (Original) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 1954 |
| Opened | 22 November 1956 (1956-11-22) |
| Renovated | 1983, 2003, 2013 |
| Construction cost | £350,000 $10.5 million (1983 renovation) $20 million (2003 renovation) |
| Architect | Kevin Borland,Peter McIntyre andJohn and Phyllis Murphy |
| Structural engineer | Bill Irwin |
| General contractor | McDougall & Ireland |
| Tenants | |
| 1956 Olympic Games North Melbourne Giants (NBL) (1984-98) Melbourne Tigers (NBL) (1984-91) Eastside Spectres (NBL) (1987-91) Southern Melbourne Saints (NBL) (1987-91) Collingwood Football Club (Administration & Training facility) (2004-present) Victorian Institute of Sport (Administration & Training facility) (2003-present) | |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
TheMelbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (originally known as theSwimming and Diving Stadium and now knowncommercially as theKGM Centre[1]) is a sports administration and training facility located in theMelbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct inMelbourne,Australia. The facility opened in 1956 as an aquatic centre for the1956 Olympic Games. In 1983, the Olympic-sized pool was replaced with a parquetry floor and the facility became Melbourne's home of numerous basketball events until 1998, most notably as the home venue for severalNational Basketball League teams including theNorth Melbourne Giants andMelbourne Tigers. The venue served as Melbourne's primary indoor concert arena from 1984 to 1988, until completion of theRod Laver Arena.
The centre is the administrative and training headquarters of theCollingwood Football Club, who also train on the adjacentOlympic Park Oval.
Known originally as theSwimming and Diving Stadium, it was built as an indoor aquatic centre fordiving,swimming,water polo, and the swimming part of themodern pentathlon events for the1956 Summer Olympics.[2][3] It was the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue in anOlympic Games and is the only majorstadium structure from the 1956 Olympic Games with thefacade intact.[2] It is listed on theVictorian Heritage Register.[4] 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.[2] ArchitectsKevin Borland,Peter McIntyre,John and Phyllis Murphy and their engineer Bill Irwin won the only one of these competitions to be consummated.[2] Construction by McDougall & Ireland, one of Melbourne's then-largest construction companies, began in October 1954 and was completed in 1956, just prior to the commencement of the Melbourne Olympic Games.[2]
ArtistArthur Boyd createdTotem Pole, the ceramic pylon sculptural work outside the complex, at his AMB Pottery inMurrumbeena.
After redevelopment in the 1980s, the venue became theMelbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre.[4] It hosted home games for theNational Basketball League'sNorth Melbourne Giants, as well as theMelbourne Tigers,Eastside Spectres andWestside Melbourne Saints, as well as hosting international games between theAustralian Boomers and various visiting international teams including theSoviet Union who played there in 1987.[5][4] The Giants remained at The Glass House until their final season in1998. The Tigers moved to the 15,400 capacity (for basketball)National Tennis Centre atFlinders Park in1992,
From 1984 until 1986, The Glass house with its 7,200 capacity was the largest venue used in the NBL. Its position was taken when theBrisbane Bullets moved into the 13,500 seatBrisbane Entertainment Centre in mid-1986. By the time of the venue's last NBL game on Friday 5 June 1998 which saw the Giants defeat thePerth Wildcats 109–103, The Glass House was still the 4th largest venue in use, though having opened in 1956 it was also the oldest.
The North Melbourne Giants won the NBL Championship at The Glass House in1989 when they defeated theCanberra Cannons 2–0 in the Grand Final series, reversing the result of the1988NBL Grand Final when they had lost to the Cannons.[6][7] They won their second and last title in1994 when they defeated theAdelaide 36ers, again 2–0 in the best of three series.[8]
The Glass House also hosted theNBL All-Star Game in 1988, 1989 and 1991.
Collingwood Football Club moved its administrative and training facilities fromVictoria Park to the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre in 2004.[9] The Collingwood Football Club also usedOlympic Park Stadium being adjacent to the centre as its outdoor training facility from 2004 until 2012, when it was demolished.[10] After this occurred, Collingwood Football Club moved its outdoor training ground to the newly developedOlympic Park Oval that replaced the space of the stadium after demolition.
The luxury vehicle manufacturerLexus bought thenaming rights to the venue in 2004; as theLexus Centre, it no longer served as a public stadium, instead being used by theVictorian Institute of Sport and theCollingwood Football Club as a sports administration and training facility.[4] The Lexus Centre was listed as part of theMelbourne 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.[11] In March, 2010, Collingwood announced thatWestpac bank was the new naming rights sponsor of the centre.[12]
On 19 August 2015,Holden signed a multimillion-dollar three-year deal to become a Premier Partner of Collingwood and holder of the naming rights to the club's headquarters at Olympic Park, now known as theHolden Centre.[13]
In March 2022,American International Assurance Company (Australia) (known as AIA) was announced as the new naming rights partner. The centre was thus renamed theAIA Centre.[14] The arrangement lasted until October 2025, when the venue was renamed theKGM Centre in recognition of the club's new sponsorship agreement with Korean automakerKG Mobility.[15]
The Swimming and Diving Stadium received an Engineering Heritage International Marker fromEngineers Australia as part of itsEngineering Heritage Recognition Program.[16] In 2021 the Australian Institute of Architects gave the design its National Enduring Architecture Award.[17]
Media related toMelbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre at Wikimedia Commons
37°49′27″S144°58′47″E / 37.82417°S 144.97972°E /-37.82417; 144.97972
| Melbourne | |
|---|---|
| Stockholm | |
.svg)
