I mentioned a while ago I want to go and take photographs of Shepparton before all my childhood memories are torn down and replaced by concrete slabbed office blocks. An article in The Age on Melbourne’s inner west industrial architecture reminded me I have a lot snaps to take around here too. This summer may be a summer of recording, and I should start with the great signs on the side of the Rising Sun in Footscray this weekend. There are also some fantastic factories around Scienceworks which is just up the road and on a weekend the streets are deserted. I think I’ll be getting my money’s worth out of Flickr over the next year.
It’s a pity that most historic buildings in Shepp were either already demolished or about to be. And the grandstand at the showgrounds is the latest to be hit by the wrecking ball. It all started in the late 60s/early 70s. The ANZ, Westpac (which has since relocated) National and Commonwealth Banks, the Post Office, the old Capri Cinemas, another old cinema in High Street next to O’Dea’s Saddlery (which gave way to a car park), the old Primary School where the TAFE college now stands, the old Town Hall and Fire Station in Maude Street (where Sanity record shop is now) were all lovely historic buildings but since knocked down to make way for ugly modern replacements (esp. the Post Office). If it was Echuca, Bendigo or Yea there would be a huge public outcry! The only historic buildings left in Shepp are the Shepparton Hotel, The Plaster Works in Mason St, the Pan-O-Market in North Street, the Australia Hotel, the Water Treatment Plant in Welsford Street, and a handful of others.