A 1970s former Girl Guides hut has been demolished, leaving the future of the site unknown.
The building was constructed on a swampy site at 13 Donaldson Road, Nambour, in 1976 after a community fundraising effort.
The Nambour Girl Guides unit first began in December 1932, and in 1945 the original hut was established on Mitchell Street.
The Girl Guides were later forced to find a new home after the council at the time wanted to use that site for car parking.
After more than 45 years at its Donaldson Road home, in February 2023 the Nambour Girl Guides surrendered its lease on the land back to the Sunshine Coast Council due to increasing running costs.
A council spokesperson confirmed the building had now been demolished due to it no longer being deemed safe.
Information from the Girl Guides Queensland archives reveals how the hut at Donaldson Road came to be.
“Shire chairman at the time Eddie De Vere chauffeured the current leaders at the time around one day, and showed them the swampy block in Donaldson Road that was suggested for our new hut,” the archives say.
“He described the plans to pipe and fill the land and prepare it for building.
“He was helping us because the council wanted our land in Mitchell Street.”
At the time, the Local Guide Association took on catering jobs to earn the money to rebuild and move, while funding, time and resources were also donated to the project.
“The hut was beautifully designed by an architect, and through his donation and that of the builder and many other trades people, the new hut opened with a garden party,” the archives state.
“One of the leaders drove her car around town for the week before as a moving advertisement, painted up with white shoe polish.
“A local Scout procured and planted all the trees in the backyard – all spaced nicely to accommodate a rope bridge for the Guides of the future.”
Over the years the hut was the headquarters for many Girl Guides aged five to 17 coming through the program, which is based on shared leadership, practical skills, physical development and relationships.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said no decision had been made on the future of the now-vacant site.
“The old building at 13 Donaldson Road, Nambour, has been taken down,” they said.
“After a thorough review, it was clear that the building was no longer safe or cost-effective to repair.
“For now, the land is cleared and no decision has been made on its future use.”
The Nambour Girl Guides have since merged with the Palmwoods Girl Guides unit located on Palmwoods Montville Road.
Other Girl Guides units in the region include Buderim, Kawana, Caloundra and Mary Valley.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
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