Fix ‘em and open ‘em up – August 2019 in review

There to repair – Thursday, 1 August edition

BALLARAT’S newest initiative to get people reduce their use and recycle what they can got underway.

Hosted by the Tech School, the Ballarat Repair Café brought together people with the skills to fix all kinds of things and those who had items that would have otherwise gone to landfill.

Loris Nankervis and her partner Tony Quinney took their 25-year-old Yamaha CD player in to be looked at.

“We fear, because of its age, that if it needs a part replaced it may be obsolete,” Ms Nankervis said.

The CD player was checked over by self-professed jack of all trades Mark Cooper. He said the device was made by a reputable brand and just too good just to throw away.

“Things like this were built to last 25 years ago, if I can’t fix it there are a couple of other blokes here who are full on electronics fixers who might have an idea,” Mr Cooper said.

 

Hark! The heralds – Thursday, 8 August edition

After the previous version of the City’s carols by candlelight ended, a group of community volunteers stepped in to save the event.

With support from across the city, organisers of the new Ballarat Carols by Candlelight got to work creating an event that would bring the region together just six short months later.

“Like most people in Ballarat when I saw the news, I had a pretty emotional response. I have two boys, we’re a massive Christmas family, we love the season, and coming together to celebrate as a community at Christmas is something that everyone enjoys,” said organising committee president Matt Hustwaite.

“Carols by Candlelight is an innately Australian and Victorian tradition, it’s been a cross-generational part of our lives and it’s one of those experiences that’s always there,” he said.

“To not have the local opportunity to come together with our neighbours and community, to enjoy the talents of our fellow community members, Christmas wouldn’t feel quite the same. It would leave a hole.”

 

Play ball! – Thursday, 8 August edition

After years of planning and construction work the ribbon was officially cut on the city’s newest drawcard – the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre.

Costing $24 million, the centre boasts a 3000-seat show court, multipurpose learning rooms, sports medicine spaces, a café and 275 carparks and is billed as a state-of-the-art base for elite basketballers from the region.

“There is a genuine need for this in Ballarat. This is for the Ballarat indoor sports community, not just basketball. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s certainly been a great journey,” said Basketball Ballarat CEO Peter Eddy.

“What I’m most proud of is our commitment to make this a community centre. Not just a basketball stadium, a community centre for all.”

The City of Ballarat contributed $5 million to the centre, the State government gave $9 million, and the Federal government $10 million. A further $5 million was injected by the State to complete a second and final stage of works including landscaping.

 

Best of Ballarat business – Thursday, 8 August edition

In our second major special feature publication of 2019, the Ballarat Times joined with Commerce Ballarat to celebrate the finalists in the Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards.

You can see the online version of the liftout here.

 

New home for play time – Thursday, 2 August edition

The Ballarat Toy Library was one of the latest groups to move into the rejuvenated Barkly Square.

Sally Tuck said the volunteer run organisation has been looking for a space to relocate to since November 2017, so to find its new home was fantastic.

“When they said, ‘come and have a look at this space,’ we were like, could it really happen? Could we actually have a home? They were wanting us, it was just so amazing,” she said.

“The more they thought about it, they could see the beautiful symmetry between us bringing children on site and all of us working as a team here, BGT and all the other tenants, and making the place safer and more inviting for children.”

 

New trams tracks well – Thursday, 2 August edition

There’s set to be at least one new old tram working the tracks around Lake Wendouree after the Tramway Museum took possession of two W-Class rattlers in late July.

A W-5 from the 1930s, and W-7 built in the 1950s, were lifted off trucks and moved into the Museum’s Bungaree workshop early on a Friday morning.

The trams were donated by the State government as part of a program to give away some of the over 100 in storage at Newport.

The W-7 will be restored and added to the Museum’s rolling stock while there are a few different options for the W-5 model.

I could be restored as well, kept in current condition and used as a film set or saved for spare parts to keep the rest of the Tramway Museum’s W-class models on the tracks.

“We’ve been given two trams, one in operating condition, one in not so good condition, which we’ll have to evaluate to see if we can get it working again” said Peter Waugh, marketing manager at the Museum.