Ballina – Ballina Manor

There are a number of large, historic buildings in Ballina. A number of these have been turned into hotels. The first in town was the Ballina Manor. It’s now a boutique hotel in the heart of town, but it wasn’t always like that.

The building was originally a boarding school. It served the nearby farming community. For people who lived too far from town, this was a place to park their kids to get an education.

As transport improved the need for a Ballina boarding school dwindled and the school eventually closed. The building was then transformed into a number of rather dodgy flats. The block developed a reputation for being the hang out of the deadbeats and deros of Ballina. There was always lots of nefarious activities going on in the rooms and gardens. We were always told not to go anywhere near it.

There is another large building nearby that suffered the same fate. It was christened the “cockroach castle” by the locals. If possible, it had a much worse reputation!

Fast forward a decade or so and things have changed. The old boarding school has been transformed into the Ballina Manor, a rather nice hotel. Even the cockroach castle has been transformed. It’s now a rather nice Thai restaurant!

Unfortunately, not all old buildings in Ballina are being shown the same level of care. The traditional building style in Ballina is small wooden houses on large garden blocks. The price these properties get when they are sold is determined by their development potential, not the house that’s on it. As soon as possible, developers buy the old houses, knock them over and build units. The more units that can be fitted on the land, the more the property is worth.

This is changing the character of the town, but probably for the best. The old wooden houses tend to be the poorer part of town. As soon as they are knocked down, large modern apartments are built. It’s a sad fate for the local architecture, but probably a good sign for the continued prosperity of the town.