ITS final years may have been spent as an eyesore on the Calder Highway, but the Junction Hotel was once the heart of the farming community of Ravenswood.
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So it was with a heavy heart that some local residents watched machinery arrive at the site this week to pull down the remaining structure, leaving the block vacant.
While accepting that the deed needed to be done, Ravensood resident Debbie Comini said it was impossible not to think back on the golden years of the historic pub.
“‘The Ravo’, as it was known, was a large part of our past,” she said.
“We used to enjoy our Friday night meals there, catching up with friends, the huge Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, get togethers.
“We have many happy memories of the Ravo.”
The Junction Hotel closed its doors in January, 2013 – a year after it was placed on the market.
It was a shadow of its former self, and was eventually used as storage in its final year.
The owner – Jozef Jansen – failed to find a buyer and so, on the night of June 9, 2014, he had the building set on fire by his son, Remco Jansen.
But the Jansens remained the owners of the pub, further delaying progress.
The City of Greater Bendigo was keen to see some action on the site once the criminal proceedings were complete, and entered preliminary talks with VicRoads in December.
Nearby roadworks on the Ravenswood Interchange are close to complete, so it was undesirable to have the burnt wreck remain alongside the $86 million road project.
It remains unclear who commissioned the demolition, or what will happen next at the property.
The council conceded that “development options would be limited” if the building remained.
Ms Comini said it was pleasing to see common sense had prevailed, but it was sad for the Ravenswood community to see what had become of their once prized watering hole.
“Thank goodness the eyesore it had become is no longer there. It was awful to see it left standing in that condition,” she said.
“The many great owners would be horrified to see what had become of the Ravo.”