THE landmark Commonwealth Bank building in the heart of Merbein will be sold at auction on Friday, amid concerns a developer could buy and demolish it.
The two-storey brick building was opened as a branch of the State Savings Bank of Victoria in 1928, less than a decade after the town was founded, but is under no heritage protection.
It stands at the corner of Commercial Street and Railway Avenue, opposite a post office built in the same era. The two form a historic architectural gateway to strips of pre-war shopfronts.
Merbein Historical Society president Bernadette Wells said she was hoping the building's buyer would maintain and restore it.
"It would be an absolute disaster if it was torn down and we're definitely concerned about that," she said.
"I've been hoping a local person would buy it and do something with it."
According to a history compiled by the society, the branch opened on October 30, 1928, as the town's first permanent bank building. The State Savings Bank had previously operated from a hairdresser's shop on Commercial Street since 1914.
In 1929, after a year of operation, the bank's commissioners reported that 927 accounts had been opened in Merbein and that the value of depositors’ balances was 48,948 pounds, with a school bank quota of 861 pounds.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia took over the business in 1990 and traded at the site until it was closed in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Permanent closure was announced on February 28, 2021.
For almost 60 years, the branch manager's family would live on the upper floor, but this practice ceased in the mid-1980s due to structural faults it is understood are yet to be repaired.
Guaranteed by the Victorian Government, the State Savings Bank was sometimes called "the people's bank", which is how former Merbein branch manager Keith Stephens thinks of it.
Mr Stephens, now retired, was the last State Bank manager at Merbein, and also the first Commonwealth manager. He said the old State Bank had been a vital part of the community and had saved many local people's homes and businesses during the Great Depression, which came shortly after it opened.
"Everyone was in trouble and the bank deferred all their payments until such time as they were back on their feet again," he said.
"And they looked after their staff. It was a really good bank to work for."
Mr Stephens said demolition of the building would be "a shame".
"It would just be a hole ... with a bit of work they could make good flats out of it, or backpackers' (accommodation)."
The property is being marketed through Collie & Tierney First National, which describes it as a "spectacular old building ... with many original features".
The building is on a corner block of over 1200 square metres, much of which is vacant, and there is rear-lane access. It is zoned Commercial 1 and the agents suggest it could be used as accommodation or offices.
The building will be auctioned on site at noon on Friday.
