News

Community facilities Grants and awards | May 30, 2018

Local groups receive History Grants

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy MP has congratulated the Murtoa Stick Shed Committee of Management, Halls Gap and Grampians Historical Society and the Hindmarsh, Horsham, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack Shire Councils on their successful Local History Grant applications.

The Murtoa Stick Shed Committee of Management has received $8,646 for an informative website and signage project.

The Stick Shed was built as a war-time emergency grain storage in 1941 and is the only one of its type in Victoria. Constructed using over 560 natural mountain ash poles, the shed is 270 metres long, 19 metres high and 60 metres wide and is protected by Heritage Victoria and Australian Heritage Listed.

 “The shed is a unique tourism attraction for our region and I am confident that the development of a dedicated website for the facility will increase the number of visitors and provide a major boost for our local tourism industry,” Ms Kealy said.

“The sheer volume of the empty building is overwhelming and must be seen to be believed,” she said.

The Hindmarsh, Horsham, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack Shire Councils received $6,500 for a joint ‘Community Stories – Local Emergencies’ project which will provide a digital platform for local community members to document photos and their reflections on emergency events that have impacted on their lives.

“The Councils will use the grant to expand the content of existing digital community maps to include information on historic emergency events as remembered and told by local community members,” Ms Kealy said.

“This information will be available to the public in an easily-accessible manner for historic purposes and to assist in recovery from future events and for forward planning by Councils and emergency services,” she said.

The Halls Gap and Grampians Historical Society also received $1,687 for Online Cataloguing.

The long running Local History Grants Program provides small grants to community organisations to support the cost of projects that record and preserve Victorian local history.

“I encourage local community groups and sporting clubs across Lowan to consider applying for the next round of Local History Grants when they become available and would be pleased to support their application,” Ms Kealy said.

Further information is available on the Local History Grants Program website www.prov.vic.gov.au or by telephoning (03) 9348 5710.