By KATH GANNAWAY
IF you had asked Bill Wheeler what the Yarra Junction Hardware building would look like in 70 years’ time, who knows what he would have said.
It’s certainly changed over the decades, going up, and spreading out to accommodate the growing timber and hardware business.
Its core business has stayed the same, which is remarkable. With the exception of pubs, and perhaps community buildings such as halls, churches and schools, that is something not a lot of buildings around Yarra Ranges can boast.
The changing face of the main streets and shopping precincts of Yarra Ranges is the subject of a fascinating exhibition that opened on Saturday.
The exhibition – Changing Places: The Evolution of Yarra Ranges’ Main Streets – not only explores how they have changed over time, but asks visitors to imagine what they may look like in the future.
Fourteen townships were visited earlier this year to gather artefacts and stories for the exhibition which explores four key themes – Shop Local; Under the Influence; Taking it To The Streets and You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.
More photographs, like the 1940s’ photo of driver Bill Wheeler, foot on the running board of the Ford delivery truck, may come to light as part of an online interactive project that is part of the Changing Places exhibition.
In partnership with the internationally renowned website History Pin, the public can upload their historic images and help share and preserve the stories and history of their main streets throughout Yarra Ranges.
Who knows, the Mail’s 2013 digital image of driver Simon Osborn, foot on the wheel of his delivery truck, could be the ‘historic’ image in another 70 years’ time.
Will there be another storey on the old hardware building? A new hardware building? Perhaps it will be something completely different by then – a home base for the University of the 4th Age?
Changing Places exhibition runs to Sunday, 2 March, 2014 at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in Lilydale. Entry is free.
