By NOEL MURPHY
JENNY Hawkins and Marlee Agnew couldn’t wipe the grins from their faces.
For the past 70 years they’ve considered the T&G Building, at the crossroads of Moorabool and Ryrie Sts, the social and spiritual centre of Geelong.
So they jumped at the chance to breach its upstairs precinct to make the acquaintance of the tower’s iconic Farmer and Son – also known as Bill and Ted.
“The Farmer and Son clock is the main thing I remember it for – I first saw it when I was four, probably three,” Marlee said.
“It was a great meeting place for people. In the days before mobile phones you’d always say, ‘I’ll meet you under the clock’.”
Jenny said the tower was a Geelong landmark.
“I remember coming in here forever. You’d all meet up after school before catching the bus home.”
T&G co-owner Stephen Hunter allowed the couple a T&G tour this week.
Together the women pored over art deco features and fittings in a building that once housed insurers and dentists, tobacconists and other entrepreneurs.
Oohs and aahs of nostalgia echoed off the rooftop walls as they peered across the city skyline, spying the tops of old cafes and stores and noting the disappearance of others.
Mr Hunter and his partners have spent thousands of dollars restoring the 1934 Temperance and General Mutual Life Association Society Limited building.
“You can’t just nick down to Bunnings for parts,” he said.
“We’ve re-skinned the roof, done all the internals, original architraves. It does cost a lot to keep an old building in a reasonable state, it’s a constant repair job.”
