Bimbos Roadhouse at Bargo - what colour?

G,day , i was talking with a mate today and we both remember it just being raw besser blocks that werent painted . The place was a dingy lookin place .

Thanks Scummy.

Like most buildings it might have went through a few different 'guises' if it was open since the 1950's and lasted until the 1980's.
I want to replicate it as it was in the 70's so it looks like it'll be either 'raw' or something dark like the photo in Bluey Tucker's review.

Mousey

I did get some photos for you yesterday of the sides and back and even a fountain on the isde. i normally get access to everywhere to take photos just by asking, but the current owners said i could just do it from the fence out back, so with the shade awning and plants the photos are a bit more clttered than you would like. it has changed guises so many times the current owner knows nothing of the old colours, and the old ladyinside (who was a Bimba waitress P/T) does not remember. I did some photos of the paint drips on the concrete near the outsidewalls as people often do not clean up drips so the old colours would show. There are drips that are a very light grey or duck egg blue. Other drips are a dark royal/cobolt blue. It is not a vibrant blue. I will try get time to put some pics for you here and email/PM you some more as well. Inside there are no historic photos of the place I'm afraid. PS. Also go close up pics of things like the transformer, outside edges like the doorway and signs. Hope that helps your model. Regards, Stephen

Hi Stephen, thanks for that, the photos should be very helpful.

Yes, some people will let you photograph whatever you like, others are not as helpful, I've spent many hours at places or researching vehicles where the owners were extremely obliging... not to worry, the way the diorama will be set up the back views might not be too critical, because otherwise I'm gonna end up with something the size of a football field and it'll be too impractical, especially to transport.

I'm thinking of taking a trip there myself and sussing out the building, there are a few measurements I'd like to take as well just to double check my scaling is accurate.

You can usually tell when an owner values the history of a premises because they'll have old photos and 'artifacts' relating to the history, but the current ones probably couldn't care less, and probably the same with the previous. I've been inside some mc donalds stores that value the history of not only the building but the town as well !

Great detective work with the 'drips'.

They'd probably be wondering why this ordinary looking green shop is suddenly attracting 'interest'... maybe I should hint them the possibility of buried treasure being hidden somewhere haha

Mousey

Mousey, I can email more pics but here are some, and of the paint drips. In no way do I know when these older colours were used. leave it to the 'old hands'. I just include in case it jogs someone's memory. The "Haulin the Hume" trucks will pass by there in a few months. Note that the big sign is not just painted on bricks. The sign surface is recessed slightly and flat. Regards, Stephen

This deep blue colour is a small pic but that's because it was a small drop and I cropped the buggery out of the pic to get it, but it is the darkest paint drop.

Thanks Steven, those are great pics. Would never have known the left sign was recessed. I'm assuming the fountain may have had something to do with the old shower block which was apparently on that side a bit further back.

So it now looks like it was a very large fibro building with the red brick facade and side wall.

I'll pay close attention to all these things when I have a look in person.

Thanks again for getting those shots.

Mousey

Originally posted by mousey
.....You can usually tell when an owner values the history of a premises because they'll have old photos and 'artifacts' relating to the history, but the current ones probably couldn't care less, and probably the same with the previous. I've been inside some McDonalds stores that value the history of not only the building but the town as well!

Well they might...

But whenever I've tried to speak to management about 'historic' photos around the walls they seem as if they couldn't care less.

It's like the 'music' they play in the ceiling, it's all a part of a world-wide package of ambience. Some stores have old photos of the town, some have other stuff, just like Hungry Jacks concentrate on fifties American cars.

They don't necessarily know what they are or care about them, they just have them. And they certainly don't care if the descriptions under the photos are inaccurate... like when they say it's a 1925 photo and there's a Chrysler Airflow in it.

I have to agree with Scrummy.I remember it as a unpainted besser block place,and was definitely a dingy place,although I rarely saw it in daylight.It was a Mobil place from memory.

I agree Ray, it's like sales people who 'sell' a product and know nothing about it.. eg most big chain stores.

I suppose it comes down to nostalgia, but after the lady at the former Bimbo's brought out my coffee I asked her if she wanted to see what the (now pie shop) looked like back in 1974 (armed with the grainy photo from the truck & bus roadhouse review) ...

well.. she hesistated slightly and then just walked away...



Old Don,

I went and saw the building in the flesh recently (and inconspicuously took a few measurements while studying the hell out of it over a cappucinno)..

Definately not besser blocks (that could be another similar roadhouse that has been mentioned on the forum), it's basically a fibro hut surrounded by a brick facade..originally red bricks

the bricks are all odd sizes, long ones, short ones.. whatever they could find...

There are also a few unpainted at the back that show red bricks wrapping around from the left hand side to the fibro back well..

The photo in truck and bus does appear to be a painted building.. and my guess is it might have had changes of colour over the years because the bowsers also vary in colour too depending on the year of the shot... one shot shows then coloured, another shows them white... so i'm gonna go with white.

Thanks again Stephen for noting the 'recessed signs', all of them are recessed into the brick, I really studied the building but there have been some mods over the years, eg big awning added over the bowser area, bowser slab still there at ground level but has been bricked up into a dividing 'garden'. An awning was also added to the back and the shower block - which behind the building and closer to marshall avenue is also no longer there so you can't choose whether to have a "hot or cold shower" anymore hehe.

The concrete in that whole front area has also been added later and the telegraph poles have been changed although they are in the same spots.

Scummy!.. I worked out what was 'wrong' with the Nev nicholls pic and after a lot of study of both the photos from the period and the actual site itself I found the answer... the POLE that he is leaning on in the shot is no longer there.

It was between the left hand corner of the building and the road on marshall ave.. took me ages to work out from what angle the photo was taken and that the pole is what wasn't quite 'right' with that photo of Nev (apart from the Volvo! ha).

You know, had I chosen to do a model of the Billabong Cafe at Casula this task would have been a whole lot easier, but it just doesn't have the same ring to it as Bimbo's (when I mention this was the name people think it's hilarious!).

Mousey

Riddle of Bimbo's original colour solved!

Firstly thanks to everyone who has helped and responded to this post.

I spoke to a number of residents and old timers in the area and the reason why 4 out of 5 didn't 'remember' the original colour of the building is simple... it's because it still is the original colour!

I went over this building with a fine tooth comb and have attached a collage of photos that clearly show areas over the restroom windows, chipped corners of brick, and where the bricks meet the concrete path where you can see the base red brick, a light 'grey/white' primer and the green - no other colours. T

There are areas that also show red brick then green (without primer) so if it had been repainted then they would have covered all this up and surely done a better job..

This also explains why in Stephen's pic of the rear of the left side where it wraps around to the back there is red brick and green paint only (with white splashes from the headboard).

The drips of various reds and blues etc were just from the signs which have been repainted with different logos a few times and the drips correspond exactly to those colours.

Perhaps at an early stage it was red brick unpainted? then got a coat of the grey primer - which may explain the look of unpainted besser block recalled by Don and Scummy (so I think you guys are probably also right), but from at least 1974 it's been green and green was definately it's first coat of colour paint!

Before taking those detailed shots and drawing my conclusion, I had enlisted the help from the local newsagent lady who quizzed her customers on the topic (regular long time locals) , most couldn't remember, one of them said I was probably right, and 2 said it was red!

The big awning and bollards have red, but this as we know were fitted much later. The gutter around the nature strip shows red under green, but in the nev nicholl's album cover it is unpainted concrete, so again any red was not part of the building itself.

I can confirm also that the window surrounds, toilet doors etc have been repainted a 'cream/light beige'.. but originally these were white.

It's quite a historic building I think, and I found out also from the newsagent lady that a very old picture theatre in the area was demolished with the approval of council despite the objection and protest of the residents - typical council, not giving a damn about the people. Luckily such a developer hasn't got his hands on the former Bimbo's hehe.

It was very interesting that even locals, who had passed the building a hundred times and actually lived there couldn't recall, but when something hasn't been changed, there is no need to

I can now get on with my diorama!

Mousey