Friday, February 6, 2009

Weekend

Friday, February 6, 2009

INSIDE

Edition

KEEPING THE SOUTH EAST INFORMED SINCE E 1861

$1.00 inc. GST

32 PAGES OF

SPORT

MOUNTAIN BIKE FRENZY

REAL ESTATE THE SOUTH EAST’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE HOUSE BUYING GUIDE

– Back page BW491031

IINSIDE TODAY: SUNDAY’S NARACOORTE RACE FIELDS & FORM GUIDE LIFTOUT

Development of the railway lands could reinvigorate a

Heritage icon Email: [email protected]

TO some it is nothing but an eyesore, but to others the dilapidated old Oatmill building south of the railway track behind Centro Mount Gambier is an unappreciated beauty. Once a hive of activity where workers hurried up and down wooden staircases to check on machinery which had the capacity to daily produce eight tonnes of Blue Lake Oatmeal – a brand everyone in South Australia served on their breakfast tables – the abandoned building now shows potential for a new development. Patiently waiting to hear when council’s rail land development will start, current owner Tim Wilson plans to renovate and lease it to anyone with a good business idea. “I have been approached by two chefs who want to run a restaurant from the building and just shortly before Christmas someone asked if they could turn it into a coffee shop,” Mr Wilson said. “When the rail land development starts, it will be great to run a business from here because the development will be like a gateway

WEATHER

pAn eyesore with business potential: The heritage-listed Blue Lake Oatmeal Milling building south of the railway tracks behind Centro. Picture: MICHAEL GOREY. to the building.” officially opened with great ceremony zoning,” he said. Because the building is heritage Regardless of whether the building in August 1903. listed it is protected from demoli- will boast a restaurant, coffee shop or Almost 100 people attending the tion, but it also means Mr Wilson is any other business, the history will opening ceremony during which the restricted in how it can be renovated always add a special touch. owners, TH Williams and WF Webster, and what type of building materials The three-storey Blue Lake handed MP George Riddoch a pair may be used in the process. Oatmeal Milling building was of gloves and led him to the engine “It will be a council issue as to what constructed from white limestone, room where Mr Riddoch turned on we can do with it, it depends on the relieved with red dolomite, and was the steam engines to start the future

Mount Gambier today - Dry. Early cloud. 36o – full report page 41

TV GUIDE

Pages 23-24

COMICS

Page 28

•Ghost busters, page 2.

CLASSIFIEDS

Pages 29-35

Ford FG Falcon Sports

Ford FG Falcon G6 Luxury

Ford MA Mondeo TDCi

Ford PJ Ranger Crew Cab XL 4x4

4.0L 6-cylinder, 5-speed auto, sports suspension, 18” alloys, window tint, cruise control, climate control, iPod integration, Bluetooth phone. S167-AAB.

4.0L 6-cylinder, 5-speed auto, 17” alloys, cruise control, climate control, CD player, fog lamps, dynamic stability control, reverse sensors. XTL-797.

2.0L 4-cylinder, 6-speed auto, dual zone climate control, 6 stack Sony CD, 7 airbags, 17” alloys, front & rear parking sensors, rain sensing wipers, hatchback. XTY-172.

3.0L common rail Turbo diesel, 5-speed manual, air-con, dual airbags, alloy wheels, alloy bull bar, bed liner, remote lock hubs, 3 tonne towing. S173-AAB.

was $44,759

was $44,701

was $41,515

was $46,780

NOW $34,000

NOW $34,000

NOW $35,000

NOW $39,990

driveaway

driveaway

driveaway

driveaway

Jubilee Hwy, Mt Gambier. Phone 08 8721 3400 Barry Stafford 0418 895 652, Paul Clark 0407 972 194 & Darren McPhail 0405 173 196

BW494833

BY ANELIA BLACKIE

success of oat production. The mill boasted state-of-the-art machinery at the time; a multitubular boiler, a patent kiln with six pans (the only one of its kind in the Commonwealth), oatmeal purifiers and a separating machine. Grain brought to the mill was shot into a hopper on the ground floor where the better class of grain went to the kiln for a drying process before it was carried by elevators to bins on the top floor. With that done, it was passed down a shute to two pairs of under-running hulling stones on the middle floor, before the groats (grain after hulling) went down a shute to the bottom floor where it underwent a steaming process and converted into rolled or flaked oats. Various extensions were added to the back of the building as it passed through the hands of many owners over the years. Mr Wilson’s father Les bought the old building in 1982 for almost $30,000 and sold it to his son four years ago when he needed more storage for his building contractor business. “People tell us all the time it’s ugly, we should knock it down, but we think it’s beautiful,” Mr Wilson said.