Most people in Campbelltown right now would see this building and shrug their shoulder at the sight of just another old house falling apart.
Except that this place is not just another place falling apart but a strong link to the magnificent history of Campbelltown and Macarthur.
It is located in the southern end of Queen Street, next to Maccas and opposite fast food outlets and Koshigaya Park.
If you stand in front of it and look south west you can see a bit of the Campbelltown Catholic Club, who own the building and the land around it.
The other day, walking past it, I was shocked to my core at the state of what most Campbelltown oldies would know as the Fishers Ghost restaurant.
See for yourself in these pictures, and if you care a tiny bit about the importance of historical links like ancient buildings it will break your heart.
The sign with the text tells a shorthand history of this incredible heritage gem:
Built around 1844, Kendal’s Mill House is where the industrial revolution began in Macarthur, as the first mill in the area to be powered by steam, it says.
When wheat farms were replaced by dairy farms 40 years later, the main building was demolished.
What remained, the building that you see when you walk or drive past, was developed into a private maternity hospital by Dr William Mawson about 100 years ago.
Many well known Campbelltown denizens were born there
Once the baby boom was over, the building was converted into a restaurant.
In the 1970s, 80s and 90s it was one of several iconic restaurants in Campbelltown, the place you went for special occasions.
It closed for a while before the late Fred Borg – the founder of 24 Hour Fight Against Cancer – had a go at running it as a restaurant called Fred’s.
It changed hands, and names for a while, and it was called Sopranos towards the end as homage to the great TV mafia series.
It has since been bought by the Campbelltown Catholic Club, who obviously aren’t short of a quid.
The club hopes to restore this historic gem as part of a bright new chapter, it says on the sign proudly standing outside the building.
Well, Catho Club, what are you waiting for?
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A change of pace now: we hear that Woodland Road Public School have enrolled triplet brothers for kindergarten this year. Our informants tell us the trio call all read “chapter books” and are bilingual, French and English. Two of them asked to be put in the same class, but the third wants to be on his own. Must be the rebel in the family!
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Well done to the Ingleburn Chamber of Commerce, who paid public tribute to Fred Soldatic, one of their life members, after he passed away late last year.
Fred, a local business owner, joined the Ingleburn chamber way back in 1973 and went on to serve as president, treasurer, secretary and director.
He was one of the main advocates for the Ingleburn Alive festival (famous for the thong throwing and wheelbarrow races) and for the establishment of the Ingleburn Policing Centre.
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Some people may not be aware that the relatively new Labor Mayor of Campbelltown, Darcy Lound, is devoting all his time to the council job.
A few weeks after being elected, and mulling it over, he decided to give up his day job to concentrate on being the mayor.
It’s one of the reasons for initiatives such as Meet the Mayor Mondays.
And there may be more like it over the course of the two year term, we are told.
His approach is certainly in stark contrast to the that of the previous Labor Mayor, who kept working fulltime for his entire five year term.
Very, very sad to see the old Kendall’s Mill going to wrack and ruin BUT it takes an endless heap of money to restore an old building that has been left to rot and then, after any restoration or renovation work, has to be kept up to scratch constantly, meaning more money being spent on it continually.
The history of the mill building over the years has shown that it is not worth the effort and expense of a complete restoration as it was obviously losing money left, right and centre after its closure as the Fisher’s Ghost Restaurant.
No business can sustain losing so much money with no return on an investment.
I can’t see the Catholic Club investing in it other than using whatever the basic Heritage listing asks for and adding on a modern building to attract attention.
Maybe that is the answer.
Not as easy a remedy as you think.