Progress for Winchelsea Op Shop rebuild

WINCHELSEA hospital’s auxiliary op shop has locked in its new permanent home at a historic Main Street building to replace the former store that was destroyed in a fire.

But a planned renovation and expansion of the new building still requires hundreds of thousands more dollars to become a reality.

Hesse Rural Health has planning approval from the Surf Coast Shire to convert the former Orchard’s Bakery at 44-46 Main Street into a thrift store, which provides fundraising support for the hospital.

Hesse expects its ambitious project will require $450,000 to complete, for which it is currently fundraising through community events and partnerships, and calls for donations.

Hesse chief executive officer Carissa Brock said honouring the heritage of the former bakery building would be a focus of the eventual rebuild.

“The first step in this rebuild project is to refurbish the building and restore its curb side historical charm.

“Due to the heritage components of the building, the current state of the building will now be fully confirmed to determine what can be repaired, and what needs to be replaced.

“This will be completed by undertaking exploration works that open up of the current walls/cladding to review internal structure and flooring supports.

“Framing will be erected prior to these work support the building during these works, with the findings of these investigative works to determine the scope of the rebuild requirements.”

Ms Brock said architects would draw up plans for the expansion and rebuild before construction gets underway.

The health service has been working towards a new site since the shop’s Gosney Street home burned down in November 2020.

In the middle of last year, Hesse opened a temporary site at 10 Main Street, known locally as “The Sheds”, which is about halfway into a two-year lease.