Cowra Council will breathe new life into a piece of the town's history after a development application (DA) was approved to restore the Electrical Switch Hut near the POW Camp.
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The DA, which was externally reviewed by Anthony Daintith Town Planning, was passed at council's July 13 General Committee meeting.
Councillor Ray Walsh said it was important Cowra preserves its historical buildings.
"I think this is a wonderful step forward in preserving our history," he said.
"We readily recognise the tremendous effect the Italian POWs had on our community here in Cowra and that's all very well documented in the assessment here.
"This building, if it's restored, will be one that has very few other likes in Australia and has also got the history of the Italian POWs attached to it."
Cr Ruth Fagan said the project had been on council's radar for some time.
"This is a great project and I'm very pleased to see it come to fruition after a long, long period of time," she said.
"It's another great history lesson we are getting tonight about what's happened in our town and I think that's really important.
"I think it'll be great to have this available, at the moment you look at it and it's falling down, having more history and making it look really beautiful will be an ongoing project but a really good one."
Cr Judi Smith questioned if the DA was for the complete restoration of the hut, as the report to council only referred to the western wall in its background.
However Director of Environmental Services, Kate Alberry, confirmed the DA was for the whole building.
"The report starts off by talking about the western wall because we've had a quote about the that wall,' she said.
"But the DA is for the restoration of the whole building."
The report stated material will be used from the surrounding site with a number of existing stockpiles of material in the immediate vicinity.
The construction method that will be used will be the same or similar to that which was used originally by the Italian POW's.
It stated the southern wall had the most significant damage and collapse however work on the western wall had been chosen first.
It stated the stonemason, Lief Hummelshoj, had provided the quote for the western wall only to ensure "Council is not only happy with the restoration works but to break up the project into manageable parts".
Mr Hummelshoj quoted council a total cost of $13,170 to complete the western wall and the report estimated the total cost of the complete refurbishment at $100,000.
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Matthew Chown
Some of my favourite memories growing up are of picking up a newspaper and learning about the world. This inspired me to become a journalist and tell local stories with a passion. Email: matthew.chown@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Some of my favourite memories growing up are of picking up a newspaper and learning about the world. This inspired me to become a journalist and tell local stories with a passion. Email: matthew.chown@austcommunitymedia.com.au
