Work to rebuild the verandah on the old Tenterfield Star building in Rouse Street is expected to be complete by early October.
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Its the first verandah to be restored as part of Tenterfield's national monument project.
The project involves restoring building facades to what they looked like in the early 1900s, and telling the stories of Tenterfield's rich connection to Australian history at that time.
The Star building was constructed when the newspaper was owned by JF Thomas, who defended Australian soldiers during the Boer War.
Thomas was the defence lawyer in the 1902 Courts Martial of Lieutenants Harry Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton who were tried and sentenced for executing 12 Boer prisoners. Morant and Handcock were executed and Witton's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
The building was one of eight selected to have their federation-style verandahs restored during stage one of the national monument project.
Another five buildings are close to going out to tender.
Construction of the Star building verandah is expected to take about six weeks.
Greg Sauer, who chairs the Tenterfield National Monument Association, said five builders tendered for the job, and architects narrowed it down to two before one was selected.
"They can start almost immediately if there's no delay with materials," Mr Sauer said.
"By early October it should be completed."
Heritage expert Robert Perry is behind the bold plan to develop the Tenterfield CBD into a national monument, restoring federation edifices and enticing tourists.
"You can point to all these buildings and behind each of them is a story of local characters," Mr Perry told the Star recently.
"I'm trying to focus a story on nation making," he said referring to the Henry Parkes Tenterfield oration in 1889, which called for a federal government.
"You've got the building where the speech happened. Then you've got buildings, built in the spirit of making the nation," he said.
The eight central business district sites identified as the first to undergo a facelift also include the Federation Bakery on High Street, the post office, the National Buildings (housing Alford & Duff etc.), the Premier Boot Depot (Mitchell's Shoes), the Noted Cheap Store (Tenterfield Laundrette), Sing Sing & Co (now Tenterfield Homemakers), and the Lyric Picture Theatre.
The project is endeavouring to reconstruct the frontage of the buildings, including verandahs, in a manner that resembles the original as closely as possible.
