here one day, gone the next
As with all modern art, it needs time to become a classic. But how can we ever appreciate the buildings of yesterday when they’re pulled down before tomorrow comes. Words and illustration by Geoff Hocking As I went up Lyttleton Terrace the other day, I was shocked – shocked and surprised – to observe that the ‘new’ civic offices had all but disappeared. Even Alf Doherty’s Automobile Service workshop, a venerable institution that had stood the test of time, just behind the council buildings, had gone as well.
the demands of the future. He had built into the design a structure that would enable extra floors to be added as demand for more office space grew.
I was never an enthusiastic fan of this modern building, but it probably could have been allowed to remain and grow old gracefully. It was one of many projects undertaken in Bendigo and the surrounding district by Bendigo architect Bill Mitchell.
Bendigo has made many attempts at modernisation and Mitchell’s architectural designs have contributed their fair share. I am indebted to Bendigo author, researcher and publisher Mike Butcher, who provided me with an extensive list of Mitchell’s oeuvre – hundreds and hundreds of projects listed, buildings designed, built or renovated – he appears to have been the go-to-guy in the Golden City when bricks and mortar needed planning.
However, the destruction of the civic offices does seem wasteful, having lasted just over 50 years – and then it has gone. Mitchell had created a design that was meant to stand the test of time and had planned for 54
A notice board informs the passerby that a new Government Hub will be built on the Lyttleton Terrace site.
Another of Mitchell’s designs that also suffered was the former Brolga HotelMotel, built in 1968 on a rise overlooking Lake Eppalock, for Hargreaves Street newsagent Madge Edgar. This ultra-modern building was of an international style with tall, panoramic windows affording a wide view of the water from its circular dining room. The entrance featured a wall of clocks set to the times of major capitals all around the world, in case some highflying jet-setters had just landed on the lake and needed to check the time back home. However, the Brolga suffered its demise towards the end of the 2002-10 drought when the lake almost dried up. The authorities would no longer guarantee a lease for the hotel. Unable to secure its future, it too was demolished.
