THE final chapter is about to be written in the chequered 50-year life of a Millicent landmark.
Wattle Range Council has begun legal proceedings against the owners of a derelict factory building and former transport depot on Lossie Road.
According to a formal letter addressed to the owners and placed on an exterior gate, council is seeking the immediate payment of over almost $11,000 in unpaid rates.
The letter states one of the options open to council is to sell the property at auction to recoup the money owed dating back as far as 2014.
The South Eastern Times understands one of the owners listed on the letter died a few years ago.
An Adelaide legal firm is handling matters on behalf of council.
The council took the decision to recover the rates during a confidential section of its February meeting.
The building was extensively damaged by fire in 2014 with police stating at the time there were suspicious circumstances regarding its cause.
The blaze caused toxic smoke to spew over a residential area and left a repair bill estimated as high as $500,000.
Around 80 firefighters took 3.5 hours to bring the blaze under control.
The unoccupied premises has had a chequered history over the past 48 years.
It was purpose-built for vegetable processing in 1969 on land purchased from Joy Hann (nee Bateman) of Millicent.
Originally known as Pict Peas, the factory later processed lobsters for SAFCOL followed by potato chips for SAFRIES.
For over a decade, it was the Vistara fish farm and storage area and traded as Limestone Coast Trout.
About a decade ago, there was a night-time fire in a workshop area of the factory.
At its height, visitors to Limestone Coast Trout could examine the hatchery and shaded outdoor tanks where up to 60,000 fish were farmed.
Visitors could buy fresh or smoked fish from the farmgate shop or dine on cooked fish, caught and filleted straight from the tank.
This venture ceased several years ago, but the site continued to be used for storage purposes until the 2014 fire.
