Douglas Parade Servo, Williamstown
The iconic petrol station on Douglas Parade, Williamstown, known as Panteli's. This image was taken in 2021. All images are copyright Campbell Mattinson.
The Pantelis Service Station on the corner of Yarra Street and Douglas Parade, Williamstown was one of the last full service petrol stations in Melbourne. The Pantelis family started this business in the early 1980s and closed shop in March/April 2024. These images for the photo essay were taken in 2021, 2023and 2026. The front canopy of the iconic Pantelis Douglas Parade service station was bulldozed in 2024. In September 2026 the old shop and workspace area was still standing. Reports of the site being redeveloped as a modern/standard servo conflict with other reports that it will be developed as apartments.
Interestingly, Laurence Aberhart – a New Zealand photographer who has spent half a century documenting vernacular buildings on the edge of disappearance – photographed Panteli's in July 2018, which resulted in a gold-toned, silver gelatin print. This print is exhibited through Darren Knight Gallery.
As of September 2026, no planning application for the site appears on Hobsons Bay council's public register. In the meantime the site is fenced, the original building partially boarded. The fences move periodically, though who moves them is another matter.
