Warren Keane has wanted to open his own bakery during a career spanning 34 years staffing bakeries in Koroit, Warrnambool, the UK and even a supermarket.

"I have been driving past the place for 17 years and I thought 'that place is going to make a great bakery one day'," Mr Keane said.

The Ziegler Parade site was most recently an antique store but was once a bakery believed to date back to the 1880s.

One remaining feature is a wood-fired oven, which Mr Keane has vowed to restore and eventually heat up, possibly making it the only functioning wood-fired oven at a south-west bakery.

"There is a bit of a process to getting these ovens started again, it takes anywhere from three to six months," he said. "They are a massive project."

Mr Keane and wife Prue, Cudgee residents, will manage the bakery and employ about four full-time staff and six casuals. They'll bake sourdoughs, traditional breads, gourmet pies, traditional pies, cakes and treats, including some recipes handed down from Prue's mother.

"There will be a lot of home cooked bakery food," Mr Keane said.

"The Allansford community is a growing community and are all close-knit. There's a lot of young families here, it just gives them a bit of a meeting point other than the pub. It might be young mothers with children and be somewhere to come and sit and have a lovely coffee."

The bakery has a planned opening in Easter, 2021, after coronavirus delayed plans to open this year and setback renovation work.

"I have found my experience with the council and the town planners, and the banks to be amazing. They have done everything they can help," Mr Keane said.

Mr Keane, who has worked at Chitticks Bakery for 26 years, said he had turned away from an opportunity to buy the Koroit Bakehouse as a young father.

"I have always dreaded missing out on that," he said.

"It has come full circle, I ended up back at Koroit and have seen what it has become. It sparked me back to life again, knowing how much of a good bakery it is now.

"It is my time to have a go."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.