The Linton and District Historical Society is the committee of management for the building, which is owned by the Shire, and includes old living quarters at its rear where librarians lived until 1990.<\/p>\n
LDHS president Jill Wheeler said the 147-year-old building is sinking into the ground, and crumbling in part, but a recently received Federal Stronger Communities grant of $10,000 will help kick-start renovation works.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2014, we got a conservation management plan done by a heritage architect who let us know what needed to be done to restore it, and we also had a heritage engineer look at the foundations. We\u2019re referring to those plans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have two things at the top of the priority list. We want to restump the back living quarters area because they\u2019ve sunk into the ground, but in order to do that, we have to dismantle the chimney, which we will reinstall at a later stage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve engaged a re-stumper, and at the same time, we\u2019d like to engage a heritage bricklayer who will assess which bricks we can keep and reuse. To that stage, it will cost $15,685.\u201d<\/p>\n The Society plans to apply for further grants to fund improvements to \u201cwonky\u201d walls and doorframes, and fully reinstate the chimney.<\/p>\n Ms Wheeler said the building is deteriorating as the years go on, making restoration more difficult and more expensive. She emphasised the importance of renovating the heritage asset sooner rather than later, as it is deeply \u201cvalued\u201d by town residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ultimate goal is to complete restoration and make it a usable community space. We would like to have a museum there.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also want to repaint and fix some termite problems. It\u2019s a long-term project,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Golden Plains Shire are contributing $5685 to the initial works, which are expected to see action later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LINTON\u2019S Library building, an iconic part of the town\u2019s historic Sussex streetscape, is set for restoration works. Initially established in 1874 as a Mechanics\u2019 Institute, the site currently has a book collection of 1600 volumes, and has always been a place of community reading and learning, whether residents wished to catch up on news from […]<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2021\/07\/IMG_2343-300x200.jpg\")