Letters will soon be dropping into the mailboxes of around five dozen property owners with holdings in Tenterfield's central business district, asking them to submit expressions of interest in modifying their building facades to contribute towards the National Monument Project.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The project, introduced a year ago by architect Robert Perry at a public presentation at the Tenterfield Golf Club, seeks to create a tourism precinct that embraces the town's many historic buildings and applauds the famous characters who walked its footpaths. Among them are Harry Chauvel, Banjo Patterson, Henry Parkes, JF Thomas and, a little later, Michael Bruxner and Oliver Woodward.
"The stories around Tenterfield are stories of national consequence," Mr Perry said at that time.
"A lot of Australian values were forged here 100 years ago. Bring back the town to the state it was in when these things happened."
READ ALSO:
Since then the Tenterfield National Monument committee has been formed and is meeting fortnightly, with the group now established as an incorporated body and registered as a charitable organisation. Chair Greg Sauer said they are now just awaiting DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) status.
So far all the work has been happening behind the scenes, but now the project is about to go shopfront.
The committee was granted an initial $700,000 courtesy of the Bushfire Drought Recovery Fund, and is seeking input on its first steps to create a historic corridor stretching down Rouse Street from Miles to Molesworth Streets and up High Street towards Centenary Cottage.
A committee-composed letter is being dispatched to the relevant property owners by Tenterfield Shire Council who retains the contact details, due to privacy restrictions.
Mr Sauer said the committee will prioritise the proposed building works against a set of criteria to gauge how well they contribute towards the end vision of a zone which embraces and echoes the precinct's historic merits.
"They also have to be achievable, affordable and sustainable," he said.
While property owners are encouraged to contribute financially to the works, Mr Sauer said this is not a prerequisite and proposals will not be excluded on this basis if they're deemed to be of value.
Similarly there are no obligations for a property owner to participate, although the eventual National Monument precinct promises to be a huge drawcard benefiting not only CBD outlets but, by extension, other tourist venues around town and throughout the shire.
For economies of scale Mr Sauer hopes to see two, three or even four premises in a row undergoing the treatment at the same time. Indications are that enough property owners will be on board to allow this to happen.
The deadline for spending the grant is December 31 so works will need to get underway soon, depending on the availability of infrastructure and labour. Mr Perry will project-manage, with another architect contracted to oversee the concept as a whole in order to spread the workload.
The committee is looking for Expressions of Interest by the end of August through its new website, particularly to restore facades and roof lines back to their original format. Mr Sauer said reinstalling verandahs is an issue given the overhead power lines, but discussions are underway with Essential Energy to reroute these lines as the opportunity arises.
"It's important to get this first mark achieved," Mr Sauer said.
"It will prove that we're a quality organisation and opens doors to grants from other sectors."
He said this is just step one of a four-step process, but will create a visual of what can be achieved. Step two involves upgrades to all buildings in the precinct, while steps three and four involve the Sir Henry Parkes Memorial School of Arts Musuem, Centenary Cottage Museum and the overall concept.
"This is a $6-8 million project, so we've got around 10 per cent of that to start with," Mr Sauer said.
He hopes this will be enough to engage people with the vision of the project and secure their support.