Walter McLaughlan

Walter Neunham McLaughlan (26 January 1920 – 9 March 1985) was an Australian engineer, realestate developer and businessman active in Melbourne during the post-WW2 period.

Walter Neunham McLaughlan was born in 1920 to a working class Christian family in Northcote. After a rough childhood, he picked up work as a salesman at the Myer Emporium during his teenage years.^[1][2] His father, Walter Wilfred McLaughlan, was a boot maker who later co-founded the Arltunga Mica Company – which manufactured mica products on Swanston Street but went bankrupt in 1935.^[3]

When World War II broke out, McLaughlan enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy.^[1] In 1941, while attending his post aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth, he noticed two German prisoners escaping from the ship's prisoner-of-war section and swiftly re-captured them. He was later noted in dispatches by the British Naval Command for "outstanding courage and leadership". After returning home from the war, he briefly rejoined his role at the Myer Emporium.^[4]

McLaughlan left employment of Myer in mid-1946 to focus on setting up a retail venture of his own. Partnering with several associates, he established Classic Paramount Productions – which manufactured and sold an array of lampshades and lighting fixtures.^[5] Operating out of a premises at 328 Smith Street in Collingwood, the venture proved successful and soon had its products displayed at prominent city stores.^[6]

During the successful early years of Classic Paramount, McLaughlan engineered an electric starting barrier for horse racing, with separate stalls.^[7] He prepared plans for the mechanism at his Fairfield home, and gave them to the Victoria Racing Club.^[8] Classic Paramount produced several notable light fixtures including the Shooting Star model with a pressed glass bowl and sandblasted halo with decorative shooting stars.^[9] Other popular models included the Art Deco-inspired Argon, the antique-style Fulham with three wooden faux-candle arms, and the modern Astor with a unique U-shaped glass halo.^[6] In February 1956, a suspicious fire significantly damaged the Smith Street factory.^[10]

Subsequently, McLaughlan wound up Classic Paramount and founded Paramount Metal Products – an engineering firm which manufactured wrought-iron furniture, metal wiring, pipes, and electrical components.^[11] Initially based in Fitzroy and later Collingwood, it upsized during the early 1960s with the purchase of a former furniture factory at 183 Highett Street, Richmond.^[12] This was renovated and extended, serving the company for over 15 years.^[13] Operations were scaled down in the early 1970s, and the business became known as the Paramount Wire Works.^[14] Production ceased shortly before McLaughlan's death in 1985, and the Richmond warehouse was taken over by metal producer W. Fitzgerald & Sons.^[15]

Leading up to the 1956 Olympics, McLaughlan reserved 9 plots within a proposed shopping centre at Heidelberg West's Olympic Village. Known as the Bell Street Mall, it was the first in Victoria to have designated off-street parking and an American-style layout with an internal courtyard.^[4] McLaughlan's block of shops incorporated bright tiles in their facades, which remain at the centre today.^[16] After building and selling the shops, McLaughlan partnered with businessman Paul Fayman to replicate the mall's success on a much larger scale. The pair had likely met at a horse racing event, having both been avid members of the Victoria Racing Club.^[8]

Fayman and his consortium had purchased land at Forest Hill, intending to establish "Australia's most up-to-date shopping centre". Based on San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria, the early scheme proposed a shopping centre with about 75 shops, 44 houses, 2 service stations, a theatre, and public amenities.^[17] McLaughlan was hired as both the managing agent and spokesperson for the project, while Fayman managed financials and site development.^[18]

An opening was scheduled for early 1958, but financial shortcomings left progress suspended for several years.^[19] Eventually, McLaughlan and his architect associate, Bill Wheatland stormed off the project due to frustration with Fayman over the continuous delays.^[20] McLaughlan described the development as a "headache", and later took Fayman to the Supreme Court alleging unpaid dues.^[21] After sitting abandoned for quite some time, the development eventually opened under a different partnership as the Forest Hills Shopping Centre in 1964.^[22]

During the height of his success in the 1960s, McLaughlan lived in a historic terrace house in East Melbourne – later retiring in Camberwell.^[23] McLaughlan died on 9 March 1985 – coincidentally just 29 days before the death of his former associate Paul Fayman. He is buried at the Victorian Garden of Remembrance.^[24]