olympic legacy
Mike Hill visits the
Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre to look at the challenge of
ensuring that a strong community legacy follows on from
“the greatest show on earth” A
rriving at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre on a quiet, cloudy Tuesday morning by train from central Sydney, you might be forgiven for thinking you’re
about to visit another white elephant – great for the elite athletes of the world but dysfunctional for everyday community use. The train was empty and one of the oldest I travelled on in Australia, and walking through the Olympic Park, the shops, banks and hotels built to house thousands of athletes and spectators all looked rather quiet and forlorn. However, that impression immediately and
dramatically changed when Ross Coggon, general manager of the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre, greeted me and showed me through into the massive main pool area. Perhaps the full car park should have been a giveaway, but inside the still impressive swim hall, six different pool areas were all packed with people. The main 50m competition pool was hosting a local school gala, complete with
podium awards for winners. The 50m community pool had lane fi tness swimming, aqua-aerobics and swimming lessons going on, while the leisure pool, beach area and spa complex were all jam-packed – and all this off-peak, in the mid-week daytime.
community and elite The aquatic centre is run by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority – a statutory body owned by New South Wales Council – which also runs the archery centre, sports hall and hockey centre. Other leisure facilities owned by the council, but outside of the Olympic park, are either run directly in-house or outsourced to contractors such as the YMCA. The aquatic centre employs around 300 staff, with 60
full-time employees, and has a turnover of more than AUS$12.5m. It runs on a subsidy of AUS$2.9m, provided by New South Wales Council, but has increased its revenue by AUS$3.5m over the last three or four years, so the subsidy has been steadily coming down. Coggon explains: “Our aim is to provide world-class
facilities with world-class service for all users, from elite athletes to the local community. By bringing a bit more discipline to decision-making and through better business planning, we’ve been able to improve the fi nancial sustainability of the centre. Improvements to our health and fi tness offering and development of the Learn to Swim programme have been crucial.” The venue is in a community area, situated in suburbs
of the city, so has an immediate catchment area on which to draw. Indeed, it’s interesting to note that the centre opened in 1994, six years before the Olympics, so it was a community facility before it was an elite one;
The 50m competition pool is often used for school galas, complete with a winners’ podium
34
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july 2010 © cybertrek 2010
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