IDEAS are easy, it is the execution that takes all the hard work. A dozen years ago, Shepparton businessman, Jim Andreadis had a 1250m2 tilt slab building from the former Ardmona Factory Sales in Mooroopna that needed to be stored until there was a need to reuse it.
Another well-known businessman, Lloyd Mawson agreed to store it on vacant land behind Emerald Bank.
Lloyd Mawson has always collected things, and another Shepparton identity Dick Clayton who worked for many years at Radio Australia also got in Jim’s ear.
Those early discussions involved bringing together different collections like Dick Clayton’s radios and telephones to establish a new attraction for the region.
Carmel Johnson suggested the building could be used to house the collections and a motor museum, given a motor museum, something that had been talked about amongst enthusiasts for decades.
Jim and Lloyd agreed to erect the building and establish the museum at Emerald Bank, South Shepparton, they also agreed to underwrite the project for the first three years.
Shepparton Motor Museum and Collectables was soon bursting at the seams.
In the interim, Jim had purchased Emerald Bank from Lloyd, and forged ahead with a 700m2 extension, including adding a mezzanine and a dedicated space to house the Furphy Museum.
By 2016, the building was again becoming overcrowded.
With the success of the Museum, local transport legends had already started talks about establishing a truck museum. After an initial round of talks the idea was sitting on the backburner but it fitted with the need to expand again.
“It was a perfect fit and it allowed us to raise the bar in terms of our ambition,” Jim said.
“We started pursuing more than just an expansion, we now had a vision to create MOVE as a unique and compelling attraction for the region.”
The trucking families agreed to contribute financially to the project, but they are also a key component of the story telling at MOVE.
Through the Legends project, the stories of the families that developed transport into a major industry are told and most have contributed a truck of special significance for display.
The project attracted significant funding from the Australian Government, Victorian Government and Shepparton City Council.
It was a trucking link that also brought one of Australia’s most significant clothing collections to MOVE.
The 10,000 items were collected over 40 years by Loel Thomson, the wife of Brian Thomson who started the first Kenworth dealership in Shepparton.
The collection needed a permanent home, and MOVE stepped in, adding a dedicated climate-controlled gallery space so the collection could be on public display for the first time.
Behind the scenes and with little fanfare the Andreadis family has gifted the land and buildings to MOVE, including some that attract rental income.
MOVE is starting life on a sound footing and the gift from the Andreadis family will ensure it can continue to operate as a community based not-for-profit entity.
“We want MOVE to help create a critical mass of offerings in Shepparton so that people from across the country will have more reason to take the time to visit and spend longer here,” Jim said.
“We want the region to benefit and prosper from the visitors MOVE attracts.”
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