Activity levels at the Cooroy Lower Mill Site have increased significantly with some exciting restoration work conducted on the historic Cooroy boiler house. Local company, Ri-con Contractors Pty Ltd completed the restoration which has enabled the refurbishment of the sawmill boiler to a useable space as a heritage interpretation centre including static display, interpretive panels, photographs and artefacts.
John Jenkins, Principal of Ri-con Contractors Pty Ltd has experience with barn conversion and historic restoration in the UK and said that Ri-con saw the project as a valuable opportunity to put something back into the community by restoring the building to its previous glory and preserving the town’s history for future generations. “The aim was to restore the pride and culture of the building and preserve its history and feel. Deteriorated and missing timbers were replaced and the existing timber were sandblasted to be rejuvenated. New timbers were aged to fit in with the remainder of the building. The roof and trusses also required replacement and the whole building was oiled to preserve and protect the timber from termites.”
Five local apprentices were included in the team working on the project. John explained, “We used authentic carpentry on this building which is a fantastic experience for the apprentices to see how things where done in the past. It is a completely different set of skills so gives them something valuable and different to add to their resumes.”
The boiler house restoration work was a component of the AusIndustry and Sunshine Coast Regional Council funded Australian Tourism Development Program project which also includes historical plantings of species which were significant to the local indigenous people and the timber industry and interpretive panels throughout the site at strategic points to explain the historical relevance of the timber and dairy industries.The renovation of the adjacent kilns for use by the Cooroora Woodworkers was also conducted which will ultimately provide on-site demonstrations of woodworking to complement the static displays.
The project is also part of the much larger plans for the Cooroy Lower Mill Site including Mill Place which will be home to the new hinterland library set to open in December 2009. Earthworks for Mill Place commenced in March 2009.