AN INNOVATIVE publican has injected enthusiasm into an ageing pub, writes XAVIER DUFF
If ideas and enthusiasm are the measure of a good publican, Gilbert Boffa is at the top of the tree.When Gilbert took over the Commonwealth Hotel in St Arnaud last year, it had been closed more often than it had been open in the previous 12 months.
The historic pub, built in 1901, was showing its age.
While the building itself was sound, its facilities and basic maintenance had been neglected and run down.
With hotels no longer the sure-fire business they once were, few were keen to take it on.
But Gilbert saw potential among the faded glory.
He has injected some much-needed cash to bring the hotel up to modern standards and has reopened it as family-friendly community hub.
Gilbert now has a loyal band of former Commonwealth drinkers who have returned to their old watering hole.
But Gilbert wants the pub to be known more for its food and has recently opened a new dining room with that in mind. He also has plans for an outdoor cafe and bar later this year.
The new dining room is being run by Sally Wright, who is an experienced hotel cook and a former shearers' cook.
"It's your classic country fare. Good homemade meals like your Mum would make," Sally said.
Gilbert said that given St Arnaud was so well known for its turkey farm, turkey dishes would be a specialty.
He also has plans to introduce live music, giving young local musicians an opportunity to perform.
This is Gilbert's first foray into running a hotel, although he has a background in running accommodation.
Originally from Melbourne, he began looking around for a pub to buy and settled on St Arnaud when the Commonwealth came up for sale.
And Gilbert is not just sitting back waiting for people to come to him. He is dragging them in by the scruff of the neck ... figuratively speaking, of course.
In March he launched a plan to get miners back in to St Arnaud by offering a two-week free stay at the Commonwealth to any prospectors wanting to search for gold.
"If Bendigo can reopen a mine, then there is a possibility worthwhile gold could still be found around St Arnaud," Gilbert said.
Then, when some of the locals complained there were not enough single women in the town, he extended his offer of free accommodation to women interested in making St Arnaud home.
He called it his "St Arnaud Wants a Wife" promotion.
But he copped a bit of flak from some of the local women, who were upset they may not be good enough.
Gilbert said they got the wrong end of the stick and that he was talking about quantity, not quality.
He said so many young women left St Arnaud when they finished school while more young men stayed around, particularly on farms, and this had created a gender imbalance.
Gilbert has also issued a challenge to anyone who can come up with the oldest piece of barbed wire, again offering accommodation as a prize.
Gilbert's barbed wire collection - yes, there are some serious barbed wire collectors out there - includes what he believes is the oldest piece of Australian wire, dating back to 1868.
Various hotels have occupied the Commonwealth site since 1855. The first was the Shamrock, then the Union Tavern Hotel was built in the 1870s.
In 1901 William Bray demolished the Union Tavern and built the two-storey Commonwealth, in the distinctive Federation style.
Gilbert intends to restore as much of the hotel as possible to its former glory, including re-erecting the pub's ornate veranda and upper-storey balcony, which were removed in the 1960s.
A local, Maggie Radford, bought the veranda and it has been in storage since then.
But the family recently decided to donate it back to the hotel. Gilbert just has to find the money to have it re-erected, but at $250,000 it would not be anytime soon, he said.
He is convinced gold could make a comeback in St Arnaud, as it has in Bendigo, if only mining companies could invest a bit in exploration and re-evaluating old mines.
"It would be a great synchronicity if a town that was founded on gold could find its rebirth in a modern gold rush," he said.
