Hubcaps to Creative Hubs – Part 3

Fyansford Paper Mill

In the third part of Hubcaps to Creative Hubs Dr Cristina Garduño Freeman takes us back to the 1870s when she visited the Fyansford Paper Mill. The site is one of Geelong’s oldest industrial sites and during its 150 odd years of existence it has had many incarnations; it transitioned from paper mill to ice factory, to an RAN anti-ship mine depot before lying derelict for many years. More recently it has been transformed into a creative arts hub.

For those of us who have visited recently, it is an extra bonus to see the buildings as they were before being renovated and repurposed. It certainly has become a place that inspires people’s creativity whilst ensuring that they never forget our important links with the past.

One of the video guests, Scott Ireland, says, “I was surprised by the way people come and speak of the history that is bound up in the building … it is sometimes bloody touching … I never thought that people would emotionally invest in buildings but they do … and it is through history that they do that. I came here thinking I would just make wine but I am now part of the living history of the place. I will go at some point and someone else will come in.”