Historic day

MARYSVILLE’S new retail precinct opened on Saturday.
The impressive timber doors to the former Marysville Motor Museum were open again following a $2.3 million injection by the Federal and State governments to transform the building into a shopping centre.
Last Thursday, as the new tenants stocked their shops ahead of Saturday’s grand opening, Premier John Brumby, Seymour MP Ben Hardman and Christine Nixon, chairwoman of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA), were given a tour.
They declared the centre to be a major milestone in the rebuilding of the town.
The proposal to use the museum, one of few buildings to survive the Black Saturday devastation of the town, was the subject of intense lobbying by the Marysville and Triangle Development Group (MATDG) to get the State Government to purchase the building.
The break-through came in August after months of talks when the State Government purchased the building for $1.1 million.
A further $1.2 million in federal funding was spent transforming it into a retail precinct which now includes car parking and lighting.
The project aims to encourage businesses back to the town with low-cost rent for 10 businesses while they rebuild on permanent sites.
The return of Redrops Foodworks, one of the town’s major employers before 7 February, is a huge boost for residents who, for the past 10 months, have had to travel to Alexandra or Healesville for basic needs.
Foodworks manager Belinda Smith said returning to Marysville was exciting.
“We only started on last Tuesday fitting out the store and it’s been a mammoth effort by everybody,” she said.
“All my staff lost their homes and one young staff member lost her mum and her brother in the fire,” she said.
Ms Smith said everyone was working furiously to ensure they were able to celebrate with the community when the store officially opened on Saturday.
“We want to make sure we have time to enjoy the day,” she said.
Leanne Stirling has re-opened Lit and Beyond, a name she acknowledges has a touch or irony about it.
The business, selling candles and ladies’ clothing and accessories, had been going for six years when the business was destroyed.
“We all woke up the day after and we had no shop, no income … nothing. It was devastating but we were fortunate, we all got out,” she said.
She will, however, be re-opening without one of her staff members, also a friend, who didn’t survive.
Although that will be hard, she said the time was right for her to get back into business. “What they have done here is just terrific,” she said
“For us, and for the town, it’s ideal; it actually looks like an interesting place to come and visit.
Other businesses include My Chef Mike café and Triangle Real Estate which is also an agency for the Bendigo Bank.
Mr Brumby was one of the first customers of the bank’s ATM, when he visited on Thursday.
A tourist information kiosk is located in prime position in the forecourt.
Ms Nixon urged all Victorians to show their support for the Marysville region saying business confidence was growing with the new shops adding to other retail, hospitality and tourism businesses which now re-opened.