Apsley pub owners look for silver linings as they rebuild Border Inn after crash

An art-deco inspired revamp of the Border Inn building has been planned once the structural damage has been fixed and they are looking to return the iconic heart of the small town to its place as a "meeting space" for the community.

And while the town has has expressed an interest in a beer garden or interim out-door set-up while the building is fixed, its owners are focused on getting the main operation back up and running.

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Mr Burke and Ms Warke said that they were thankful for the community's support since the crash.

"The Border Inn is a central point in town, one of few, but many people used this place as a meeting space," Ms Warke said.

"The Border Inn holds a lot of history and memories for not just Apsley but also the cross-border area.

"But a beer garden is not likely to work all week, and we have decided it is better to focus on opening at full capacity as soon as realistically possible than trying to workshop a temporary business while work is continuing on the main building.

The crash on November 28, 2022 - when a car travelling along the Wimmera Highway into Apsley hit the building - left three walls in the pub destroyed and the interior smashed up.

Three weeks were spent ensuring the structural integrity of the pub before the car could be removed, which was just before Christmas. Temporary supports have been placed within the building and the tarp covering the cars' entry point has been replaced with a solid wall.

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Mr Burke and Ms Warke took over the Border Inn in early July 2022 after it has been saved for the town by a consortium of 23 farmers.

Mr Burke said that he was thankful for the reputation of the pub when they took over and the "so busy so quickly" popularity.

"We are so thankful to have the support from our community, but if we focus on working towards opening at 100 per cent, we can ease the business back into normal hours and find a balance with public interest and what we can support," he said.

Mr Burke said the rebuild was "out of our control at the moment as we are still waiting for updates on what's happening next and when it is happening".

"The Apsley Pub is one of the oldest buildings in the area, and now we can work on making it the central point that it deserves to be," he said.

As part of the rebuild the owners said they wanted to create a more art-deco inspired atmosphere for the inn, link exterior and interior areas and save the most recent iteration of the pub renovated in the 1950s.

"We are working to turn this horrible experience into a positive," Ms Warke said.

"We've been given an opportunity to step back and look at the inn and now we can make it our own."

They said that they hoped to re-open by late 2023.