Item MM 110493 Digital Photograph - Olympic Swimming Pool Under Construction, Melbourne, 1955

Description of Content

Large construction site, with metal framework overhead. There is a wooden hut in the foreground. This photograph shows the Melbourne Olympic Swimming Pool under construction in about August 1955. 'A dramatic new building with no walls. You ended up sitting on the walls.' The photographer David Meale had been brought up in the country and only recently moved to Melbourne. He lived in Darling Street, South Yarra, with his aunt and uncle. To see the new developments of Olympic Park and the preparation for the Olympic Games, all he had to do was walk down the street and along the river. David would go looking to see what was happening with the construction sites on the weekend. He remembers 'It was a very exciting time, only 12 years after the War and a very big deal for the people of Melbourne.' He believes that there is probably a construction hut in the foreground.