WANDER through the old Community Health Centre in Hurley Street and you can see why Chris and Liz Sutherland have decided to turn part of the period building into budget accommodation for backpackers and live in the other part.
The building still retains all of its period charm and with 25 rooms, nine downstairs and 16 upstairs, is tailor made to boost the accommodation alternatives for visitors to town.
The building has sat empty since Community Health moved to the top of Mackay Street, near the existing hospital and medical centre.
Chris and Liz say as soon as they saw the ‘Auction’ sign go up outside the building last year they had a vision for what the place could be.
Their enthusiasm and vision for the project is infectious and with an eye for detail, Liz being an artist, if anyone can turn what was once a relatively dull but much loved government building into something special for Cootamundra, it will be these two.
The building began life as the living quarters for nurses working at the old district hospital, however when that hospital was amalgamated with the current hospital it was converted to the centre for community health.
Over recent years many of the upstairs rooms were left empty as services within the centre dwindled.
This means the downstairs rooms are generally in better condition than those upstairs.
The couple has been busy over recent weeks painting the interior of the building and generally adding a good dose of tender loving care.
Both agree the bones of the building are still in great condition and they are determined to keep as many of the original features as possible.
They have purchased the building in partnership with Michael and Wendy Batinich of Wombat, who own an orchard.
With hundreds of transient fruit pickers working at the orchard and around neighbouring farms over the harvest season, the Batinichs noted that there was a distinct lack of decent, budget accommodation available off farm.
The Sutherlands’ project is expected to fill this void and will also add much-needed accommodation to town during events such as the beach volleyball and touch carnival. Typically all of the hotels, motels and the caravan park book out during these peak weekends.
Chris and Liz are excited about the challenge which lies ahead. They are hoping they may be able to open the ground level of accommodation by the middle of this year, with the top floor set to be more of a work in progress.
To bring the building up to code, they must install smoke alarms in each of the rooms.
The existing phone and data cabling is a terrific bonus for the Sutherlands, which means the building will be able to cope with a high level of internet access, etc.
Liz will have the chance to have an art studio in the premises, which she is excited about, and she plans to open up part of the common area of the building as exhibition space, showcasing local art.
The building is steeped in history and as Chris and Liz clean up, they have been holding on to some of the mementos from the building’s early days in order to set up a historical display for visitors to peruse. They are keen to ensure the building’s history is not lost.
The couple has received positive feedback from those associated with the building during its Community Health days.
When the building came up for sale, many people within the community were concerned it would be demolished as a developer snapped up the land, which sits in prime position in terms of proximity to town.
To see the building renovated and revamped and generally given a new lease of life was a sigh of relief for many community members and past associates of the
building.
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