Memorial Hall demolished - only bird's nests holding it together
Faithe JonesDemolished February 2017
The hall committee of management made the decision to demolish the hall in 2012 after it was condemned by Gannawarra Shire Council. The floor was badly rotted, the walls were severely cracked and the foundations had sunk significantly, giving the hall its characteristic off-centre façade. With the cost of repairing the hall estimated at more than $500,000, secretary Alan Morrow said the committee had no choice but to proceed with its demolition. "We had no choice once the building was condemned; it wasn't safe to be in there," he said. "The only things holding it together were the bird nests up top, and the walls crumpled when the roof was removed." Mr Morrow said Gannawarra Shire Council declined to issue a permit to demolish the hall, contributing to the five-year delay before a private building surveyor from Mildura eventually signed off on the demolition. He said the cost of the demolition had exhausted the committee's funds, leaving no money to reinvent the site, so it had been offered to council, but it declined. The plaques from the front of the hall have been removed and bequeathed to the Koondrook sub-branch of the Returned and Services League
