History initiative brings sweet shop story back to life

ARTIST Margie Balazic introduced John Mathias Kline to Grades 5 and 6 at Dana Street Primary School.

Mr Kline, was a baker, caterer, pastrycook and confectioner in his shop at 9 Sturt Street in 1893.

Over the past months Ms Balazic and the Dana Street pupils have been researching and recreating Mr Kline’s shop.

“The yummy things to eat in a pastry shop was something I thought the kids would relate to,” she said.

She illustrated and created line drawings of the building as it would have looked in 1901 and Ballarat Tech School laser cut her design as a 1/12 scale of the building.

Sofia Fiusco, Ballarat Tech School Director, said she is amazed at Ms Balazic’s artistic ability to build and showcase her ideas.

“Margie created the files and we laser cut them from 600mm by 800mm acrylic sheets,” she said. “Her ability to create the fine details of the building’s balustrades and lace ironwork is a real talent.”

The scale model recreated the past with a sense of play, almost like a jigsaw, so that when the laser cut pieces were assembled the shop came alive.

The school children made real bread, tasted jams and had fun with jelly moulds and also created little trays and baked miniature bread.

The students learnt interesting historical facts in a fun way. They discovered that Mr Kline made ice-cream from ice that was shipped to Australia.

“We couldn’t get our head around that as we didn’t know they had ice-cream or that was how it was made it in 1901,” Ms Balazic said

The current building on Sturt Street, now housing Yeomans Rentals, has no historical features remaining on the exterior.

The scale model shows how very different the façade is now from what it was in 1901.

“I wanted the children to see the before and the after of Mr Kline’s shop,” Ms Balazic said. “The difference is devasting.”