ALBURY-Wodonga businessman Vyv Weatherall, who helped establish pubs and shopping centres in the twin cities, has died, aged 81.
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He was only two when his parents, Martin and Irene, moved from Gawler, South Australia, and bought the Halfway Hotel between Albury and Wodonga.
Mr Weatherall’s father was a geologist, sparking Vyv’s interest in gold mining, and his mother was a music teacher.
They transferred a liquor licence from the Halfway Hotel to the pub they built on the corner of Elgin Boulevard and Smythe Street at a time when the Wodonga saleyards were located opposite.
The Wodonga Hotel, the last pub built in Wodonga before World War II, was re-badged Elgins in the 1990s.
Between the pub still operated by son Tom and the former Stanley Street swimming pool, Mr Weatherall in 1975 established Irene House – named for his mum – which has been home to various tenants, including a reception centre, nightclub and a temporary Catholic school.
Irene House was built using recycled steel and reinforced concrete from a former Commonwealth Bank building in Melbourne. It has a basement level which was able to satisfy council building height regulations of the time.
Mr Weatherall also established a masonry business on the Lincoln Causeway which began with an initial staff of five when it opened in 1962 before growing to 22 over the next 11 years.
It is still there — as is the The Village shopping centre in Young Street, Albury, built by Mr Weatherall in 1970.
Among the more enduring tenants were a skating rink and Jacobs supermarket.
Mr Weatherall, who was a qualified engineer and renowned boxer, was also involved in other businesses including OneSteel, the redevelopment of the Alfarm farm machinery yard in North Street following its demise in 1990 and the sale of the former Dalgety wool store building in Young Street, now the site of Bunnings warehouse.
Mr Weatherall’s business dealings weren’t without incident — he was involved in a dispute about land at Thurgoona with the former Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation which made front-page news in December, 1981.
Frustrated with protracted negotiations, Mr Weatherall brought matters to a head when he arranged for furniture from the corporation’s boardroom to be removed, a move that interested police.
He battled cancer later in life and is survived by children, Liza, Tom, Jan and Vivienne.
His funeral will be held at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Thurgoona on Friday at 1.30pm.