Old Co-op Shop facts for kids

The Old Co-op Shop is a special building on Home Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australia. It's listed as an important historical place on the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List since June 22, 2004. This building has a long history, first as a place to store coconut products and later as a shop run by the local community.

A Look Back in Time

From Coconut Store to Community Shop

A long time ago, in the early 1900s, this building wasn't a shop at all! It was used to store something called copra. Copra is the dried meat of coconuts, which was a very important product from the islands. At that time, the Clunies-Ross family owned and managed the islands. They built many structures like this one for storing and processing coconuts.

Later, in 1979, the people of the Cocos Islands gained more control over their own lives. They formed a group called the Cocos Islands Co-operative Society Limited. This group was in charge of local businesses. Many people who worked on the islands were part of this co-operative.

The old copra store then became the "Co-op shop" or a local supermarket. It even had a special cold room to keep food fresh! However, by the year 2000, the building was no longer used because it had fallen into disrepair.

What Does It Look Like?

The Old Co-op Shop is located right in the middle of the main village, called the Kampong, on Home Island.

The building is made of brick with a special outer layer called "render." It has a roof made of corrugated iron, which is a wavy metal material. There's also a covered porch area, known as a verandah, that was added later.

It looks a lot like other old copra stores on Home Island. Behind the main building, there's another smaller building with asbestos cement walls and a concrete water tank. These parts were added when the Cocos Malay people started to manage their own affairs and used the building as their Co-op shop.

Building Condition Over Time

In 1996, the original brick walls of the building were starting to show wear and tear. However, the newer parts of the building were still in good shape.

By 2000, the original brick section was not being used and was in poor condition. The newer additions were still quite strong. Even though the wooden beams in the roof of the old building looked okay, the metal parts connecting them were rusting. This rust, along with moisture, was causing cracks in the brick walls, especially where metal supports (called lintels) were located.

Why Is This Building Special?

The Old Co-op Shop is important because it tells us a lot about the history of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

• Coconut Industry History: It was first used as a copra store. This shows how the Clunies-Ross family managed their coconut business in the 1800s and 1900s. It also reminds us of the hard work of the Cocos Malay people. They helped develop the islands into a big coconut plantation and copra processing center from the early 1800s until the late 1970s.
• Community Self-Government: The building's change from a store to a Co-op Shop is very important. It marks the time when the Cocos Malay people started to govern themselves. In 1979, they set up a local council and formed the co-operative to run the islands.
• Unique Architecture: The building's whitewashed walls show a special style of building. This style was only used for the early Clunies-Ross copra storage and processing buildings on Home Island after the 1880s. This was when the main industrial activities were moved to different parts of the island.