May 7, 2012
I love taking the time to look for building ghosts whenever I walk around the streets of an old town or area like Moonee Ponds. The ghosts of long lost buildings and businesses are everywhere when you start to look. You can see them in faded advertising signs on the side of buildings or above shop verandahs. Some buildings even have names built into the fabric of the building in brick or concrete, the last remnants of once thriving businesses. Sometimes you see shadows of former buildings that have been pulled down. The remains of a staircase, painted or wallpapered walls where once there was a dwelling or business. These are my favourite shadows and I find myself wondering about the people who worked and lived in these now gone buildings. Who were they, what did they do, where have they gone? The Sands and McDougall’s and other resources in the local history room can help flesh out some of these ghosts, but sometimes I must confess, I like to leave them as they are. Ghosts of the past and markers of the changing nature of the urban landscape.