The first bricks and boards of the Village Way cottages at Wagga’s Charles Sturt University were laid about 1940, predating the Wagga Agricultural College which grew out of the Experiment Farm in 1949. 

The cottages have served as the on-campus homes of students and staff for more than half a century, but the row of 18 one-storey cottages have outlasted usefulness. 

Brothers Athol and Peter Price, born ten years apart, said the area was a great place to live but its use-by date has expired. 

“I was born in 1952 and lived in the blue cottage up until 1975 and it’s a bit different from when I walked through the home about 10 years ago,” Peter said. 

“It’s a bit of a mess inside, they’ve blocked up hallways and changed the lounge room to a bedroom, but the kitchen and laundry are much the same, except the bedrooms. 

“I came through here probably about 10 years ago as I was driving a bus for the university and I knew the security bloke pretty well, so I got the chance to see through it despite girls living there at the time.” 

It’s a bittersweet feeling as Peter spoke of the home’s fond memories, but noted the expiration date had come. 

“The use-by date is up and they’re just spending good money on bad money and it’s sad, but it’s not how it used to be when we knew it,” he said. 

“It was a great place to live out here as a kid; kids these days have electronics, but we’d get on our push-bikes and ride to town. 

“Where all those homes are built now is just unbelievable; we used to ride down lanes through all of that to get to town.” 

For Athol, now living in Tumut, yesterday was the first time he got the opportunity to visit his childhood home since he left in 1966. 

“It’s a bit of a mess, but much has changed especially the surroundings since we left,” Mr Price said. 

“It was a great home and it was just a massive block of land and we were on water mains and no one had to pay for water so we all had wonderful gardens.

“Dad spent about 50 years and worked in the big poultry areas, which have been replaced by CSU. 

The Hackett family were the last to move out of their home on number 306. 

Joanne Wilson left the family home in 1970 and said it was the first time since she has been at the home. 

“It’s very different, the kitchen is at the front now and the bedrooms are a lot smaller than I remember them being,” she said. 

“I feel this is final farewell is closure for me, but that’s probably more of a personal thing for me.” 

One of six children, Ms Wilson’s sibling Tony Hackett also attended CSU’s event and said he spent about the first 15 years of his life in that home. 

“I was 11 months when I moved into the home and we left in early 1972, and it was just a one-big happy place,” he said. 

“Our father Harry Hackett worked at the dairy section of the Wagga Agricultural Farm and there were probably 50 kids who lived on this strip and about 14 homes from memory.

“It’s changed immensely and it was all paddocks, with a huge poultry section and we would explore the surrounding hills.

“It’s very sad and it’s history, but I suppose nothing lasts forever,” he said. 

CSU division of facilities management executive director Stephen Butt said the cottages hold significance to former residents, staff and students. 

“The history of the cottages hold sensitive and significant memories for many members of the university community,” Mr Butt said. 

Mr Butt also said the university recognised the history of the cottages and the preservation of the memories attached to them was important to the future of CSU.