General News
16 February, 2024
History comes crashing down
Buildings with historical significance, and generations of memories, are disappearing in Beulah and Brim, with one already been demolished and another slated to be torn down in the coming weeks.
Buildings with historical significance, and generations of memories, are disappearing in Beulah and Brim, with one already been demolished and another slated to be torn down in the coming weeks.
The Brim General Store came crashing down last week, and Colleen McPherson, who operated the store with her husband Chris, said it was a sad day for the community and for her family.
“We are actually Wavell and Shirley’s son and daughter in law, with Wavell and Shirley starting the Brim General Store business in 1973,” Mrs McPherson said.
“The Brim Store was running for many years beforehand, but after Wavell and Shirley took it over 50 years ago they integrated the banking and post services, along with CRT Agribusiness.
“That is the business Chris and I manage and run for them today.”
While her husband grew up with his parents operating the business, Mrs McPherson said she has been involved for the past 20 years.
“Chris and I did a lot of maintenance work on the old building itself,” Mrs McPherson said.
“We’d fix and redo the floor at the front, and then by the time we did that the back needed redoing, so we would go and do that, and by the time we finished that, we needed to fix elsewhere.
Mrs McPherson said it was a “never-ending” job, combatting white ants and general wear and tear, and eventually the business began to outgrow the space.
The Silo Art Trail drew hordes of tourists to town, and the shop became overrun.
Attempting to squeeze farmers accessing CRT, locals shopping, and visitors into the one space was no longer feasible and the business vacated the building about six years ago.
The new store now caters for everyone with plenty of space.
“The old building was deemed unsafe for access by council and, as such, it was part of the building permit for the new store that the old store must be taken down,” Mrs McPherson said.
The demolition was planned pre-Covid, but the restrictions and then a backlog of work meant it couldn’t be carried out until now.
And having a new store doesn’t mean Mrs McPherson wasn’t sad to see the old building come crashing down -or she would have been, had she been able to look.
Mrs McPherson was working in the office at the new store when the demolition occurred.
“The fact we have such a great setup in our new store softened it a bit for the community as we weren’t losing a business, just the building,” Mrs McPherson said.
“It definitely brought a lot of attention from the locals, which in a way was wonderful as they came in and told us everything they remembered.
“It was a bittersweet day - and I could hear it, but I couldn’t go out and watch.
“I can still remember my kids being on little trikes coming down the extremely uneven floor, and then running around the back of the shelf to do it all over again.
Mrs McPherson said she and her family still had a lot of precious memories tied to the old store.
“I was quite sentimentally tied to the building - I raised my three kids in there, and Shirley raised Chris in there too,” she said.
“She had her own memories, like Chris sleeping behind the old counter and things like that.”
Next on the chopping block is the Beulah pub - the Victoria Hotel - which featured in Eric Bana’s 2019 movie “The Dry”.
Last drinks were served in November 2020, after Faye and Butch Morris made the decision not to renew the lease after 32 years.
As news spread of the building’s pending demolition, community members – past and present – used Facebook to reflect on the history of the pub and their time spent there, working and socialising, and their photos.
Kathy Poulton worked at the pub between 1981 and 1985, under publicans Ken and Glenys Smith.
She said the beer back then cost 44 cents, and the pub “rocked” every Friday and Saturday night.
Likewise, June Cheong said she spent the 1950’s and 60’s in Beulah.
She said she can still recall the “warm malty beer smell” emanating out to where they played games along the footpath in Phillips Street.
Pamela Seipolt Peck has the pub to thank for her Dad and Mum meeting.
Len and Pearl Seipolt met while Pearl worked at the pub.
For others, like Maurice Conway, the news had an emotional impact.
Mr Conway, who was born in Beulah, said the building was historical and questioned where the conservationists were.
Candice Selin commented the building had been inspected with hopes of restoration, but there was water damage to the floors and walls, it needed a new roof, new pillars on the veranda, and electrical work.
She said restoration of the building, which is over 100 years old, would cost a small fortune.