Community crop fundraiser gets re-opening of historic Imperial Hotel closer for Broomehill Village Cooperative

A 120-year-old hotel is one step closer to re-opening after the Broomehill Village Cooperative seeded its community crop fundraiser for the third year while also progressing new plans. AFGRI Equipment Gnowangerup sewed 100ha of titan barley on May 16 as the community crop to raise funds for the Imperial Hotel’s restoration. They used a new seeding rig — a John Deere 9R 440 tractor, Bourgault 4420 DKD 40-foot seeding bar and Bourgault 8550 tank — to get the job done. Cooperative chairman Scott Thompson said the community crop was its own “success story” and it was great to see the community and surrounds unite. Between $80,000 and $120,000 is raised each year with the help of chemical and product donations from the community. Mr Thompson said they were working on expanding the crop to increase funds and ensure long-term income for community projects. The two-story historic hotel on the Great Southern Highway closed in 2019, prompting the community to band together and buy the property in 2021 through various fundraisers and busy-bees with the foresight of re-opening. Mr Thompson said the Cooperative had gathered about 80 members from different communities, occupations and of all ages, including children and elderly. The board of seven had met H+H Architects on February 19 to discuss their plans to deliver a new dinning and bar area and accommodation to create a lively community hub. Mr Thompson, a former shire president, said they were currently waiting for their plans to be approved before announcing the finalised product. He said the hotel’s revival would encourage other businesses to invest in the Broomehill community and the town’s future. Mr Thompson said it was an important investment because it would provide much-needed accommodation. “It’s such a dire situation in every town; no one’s got beds available, but as a community we have the capacity to have a hotel,” he said. “We need to get creative as a broader community, so community, funding bodies of government and corporates work together on how we’re going to solve this situation. “And governments and corporations need to trust and invest in communities and people to allow us to run these projects.”