Jan Veenstra with a photo of the Coffee Palace from more than 80 years ago. 73092
By Emma Sun
THE owner of what used to be the Coffee Palace in Station Street, Pakenham, has spoken out about his dismay over the demolition of the old house.
Jan Veenstra, who now resides in Bunyip, lived in the house for 43 years with his wife Dulcie before selling it to Windermere in 2002.
They initially ran it as a boarding house, renting its many rooms to locals who needed a place to stay before moving out as a family.
He said he was disappointed to discover that the Coffee Palace, which was almost 100 years old, was knocked down last month.
“It flattened me, I actually sold it to Windermere and thought they will look after it and one day it will be heritage listed,” he said.
“I was well and truly disappointed that the house was pulled down. It was in quite good order and it had a lot of history in it.”
Manager Community Partnerships and Marketing at Windermere Carina Tomietto said the decision to demolish the building was due to an increase in demand for its services.
“With five families moving into the Cardinia Shire every day, it’s no wonder the demand for services has also increased, forcing Windermere to quickly look for a new home within the area,” she said.
The Coffee Palace was originally known as ‘St Elmo’ and was built in 1914 for farmer John Wadsley, who lived in a property that was part of what is now the Consolidated School on McGregor Road.
According to the book, Spirit of Pakenham, written in 1994, it is believed Coffee Palace was built by local builders Bill ‘Juggo’ Stephenson and Bill Bloomfield using timber cut at a local sawmill.
It was originally used as a boarding house for people who wanted to stay overnight before taking a train to the city and for people who worked in the area.
Noel and Marj Webster bought it in 1944 and traded it with local estate agent Bert Hogan for his business before Mr Veenstra and his father Frank purchased the house in 1958 for £4650.
They renovated the building and added three rooms to the 14 and continued using it as a boarding house.
“We ran it for 12 months as a guest house, and it was not very profitable,” Mr Veenstra said.
“We had the whole half acre filled with vegetables and despite that, we only made £52 in profit for the year – that’s one pound a week. At least we didn’t make a loss.”
They closed the boarding house soon after and lived there with their son Robert and his wife for a period of time before selling it.
The land is still owned by Windermere, and it could possibly be the site of purpose-built buildings for the new facility.
