Improvements at Small Arms Factory Museum just the start | Photos

Museum custodian Donna White said it was the inaugural event for the museum. 

“It is our intention to hold more of these informative events, in fact, we are eyeing off holding an international Industrial Heritage Conference in late 2019 which will showcase this site’s amazing industrial and engineering prowess,” she said. 

READ MORE: Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum the perfect host for ballistics talk

If you have driven past the site recently, you will have noticed work under way on the outside. Scaffolding has been in place to allow heritage-appropriate painting works to be carried out to help brighten the exterior. 

But there is plenty of work happening behind the scenes as well, as the museum makes use of the $100,000 State Government grant awarded earlier this year. 

This work focused on the machine shop, which is currently closed to visitors. 

“We want to keep it in its original state as much as we can,” the museum’s Renzo Benedet said. 

“We want to showcase the machines as they were in yesteryear.”

The machine shop maintains many of the precision machines that were used in the barrel making process when the Small Arms Factory was at its height of production. 

It is a large, open space with lots of natural light pouring in multiple rows of small rectangular windows. 

While the bulk of the work, including fixing and sealing windows and tree removal, was being undertaken by contractors, the volunteers hoped to complete some of the work themselves, including cleaning the floors and windows. 

The original wooden floors, installed in 1924, will be kept as much as possible, with replacement boards from other parts of the site to be used to replace worn and uneven sections. 

“By March next year, all the work to do with the grant allocation will be completed,” Mr Benedet said. 

He hoped that tours would be able to go through the long-closed section by mid next year. 

“The main thing we’re excited about is the possibility of having events here.”

People had already expressed interest in setting up displays in the open machine shop area, including a display of vintage typewriters. 

Ten thousand visitors come through the Small Arms Factory Museum every year, but its dedicated team believes 20,000 per year is an achievable goal in the future, with the introduction of events at the site. 

“While people love to come here and say their dad or grandfather used to work here, there is scope beyond that,” Mr Benedet said. 

“The precision manufacturing side of things is very valuable and will attract a completely different visitor.”

It is remarkable to think that all of the Small Arms Factory Museum’s activities, including its tours and upkeep, is largely undertaken by a team of 15 core volunteers. 

Mr Benedet said the team could easily use another 5-6 to keep everything running smoothly. 

“Every volunteer organisation has that problem.”

While the 2018 grant is allowing for works to be undertaken to reopen the machine shop, there is plenty more the museum team would love to see happen. 

READ MORE: Collins class submarines: Royal Australian Navy's invitation-only tour

For example, the installation of an all-abilities access to allow people to more easily access the museum’s upstairs exhibits and the creation of a more open-plan museum space. 

There is plenty of scope for improvements and – with some further funding and a little more volunteer labour – the Small Arms Factory Museum crew believes it can come to fruition.