Hubcaps to Creative Hubs – Part 2

Federal Woollen Mills

Built in the early years of the twentieth century the Federal Woollen Mills in North Geelong were state of the art factories, all electric, well ventilated and light filled; they were thoroughly modern. Yet by the close of that century they were abandoned, derelict and forlorn spaces.

With 28,000 square metres of space, dozens of large separate buildings any regeneration or repurposing of the site posed massive challenges and it required someone with drive and vision to take it on. The site found that person in Cameron Hamilton.

In 2017 when Dr Cristina Garduño Freeman spoke with Cameron, he spoke enthusiastically about how new and established businesses were being drawn to the redeveloped site. So much so that the large and generous budget for advertising had never been used; the revamped Federal Mills had become a beacon in themselves.

Dr Garduño Freeman speaks of how these regenerated old buildings provide a sense of continuity over generations, a theme Cameron Hamilton picked up on when he spoke of how Ford, Alcoa and the Federal Woollen Mills had been the great emerging industries of their day and that there was a sense of symmetry that the Federal Mills precinct was now a home to emerging industries of the 21st century, upon which Geelong’s continuing prosperity can rest.