THE Lithgow City Council’s Eskbank Voices project will receive $63,000 from the NSW government Heritage Near Me preservation project.
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Member for Bathurst Paul Toole presented the funds to Lithgow City Council representatives on Friday at Eskbank House saying the project was designed to increase public enjoyment of local heritage, such as physical works for public access, Public Programming, strategy development and business planning.
The money given to Eskbank House will see the completion of a wheelchair accessible path to assist people with mobility difficulties to access the building and a recreated kitchen garden.
Marys Garden was the earliest kitchen garden at the house dating back to the mid 1840s. The fence line, that has already been established, follows the same line as the original garden.
“The garden will also be used as an extension of the museum. The works will be complimented by an exhibition of recently collated images and stories of historic times in the house,” Mr Toole said.
Lithgow City Council Community and Culture Manager Matthew Johnson said the creation of the fenced kitchen garden would also help tell the story of the women who lived in the house, especially Mary Brown, the wife of the house’s founder Thomas Brown.
“The disabled access path will also mean those who need can drive around to the path and park closer to the building allowing them a better overall visitor experience,” Mr Johnson said.
Lithgow City Council mayor Stephen Lesslie said he hopes to see the garden used by the community.
“Over time the fence will blend into the rest of the rural rustic surroundings, and I would hope to see community groups come and use the garden for community projects.”
Some of the funding will also go towards the development of Eskbank Stories, a book based on recently collected oral history stories and an exhibition that has been planned for late 2017 to display the oral history stories.
“It’s the first substantial house built in the Lithgow Valley and dates back to the 1840s. We want to continue to develop it so it becomes a place for exhibitions, performance. We want to see it develop and be built up for use by the whole community,” Mr Johnson said.
The Heritage Activation Grants form part of the wider Heritage Near Me program, running until 2019.
There is $16 million available in funding over the life of the program, with three grant stream opportunities including Heritage Activation Grants, Local Heritage Grants and the Heritage Green Energy Grants.