August 31, 2021
Hard work from a keen bunch of volunteers has breathed new life into the former Kingaroy Hospital canteen building.
The building was shifted to Butwell Park, near Kingaroy Airport, in July last year – the home of the Kingaroy & District Vintage Machinery Club.
The move cost the club about $13,000 of their own funds but they also received community grants from the RACQ Foundation ($10,000) and the South Burnett Regional Council ($3000) to assist with setting up.
The Council grant allowed the club to create a new office area and first aid room, while the RACQ assisted with re-stumping and the installation of a septic system.
Club members reinstalled the portico, which had been taken down for the removal, completely repainted the building and made the formwork for the concrete access ramps which have now made the building wheelchair accessible.
They gathered on Sunday afternoon to thank Cr Danita Potter for Council’s contribution to the project and to inspect the work which has been done so far.
Club officials said the new building will be a great benefit for the club’s annual rally next month (September 18-19) and a huge Queensland Heritage Rally which it will be hosting next year.
This event is expected to attract between 6000 and 10,000 people to Kingaroy between September 16-18, 2022. Exhibitors and patrons are expected to come from Australia and New Zealand.
“I think the building is a brilliant asset,” Queensland Heritage Rally sub-committee co-secretary Charmaine Osborne said.
“There’s a kitchen, a handicapped toilet, a first aid room and three ramps, all wheelchair accessible.”
Charmaine said the club was very excited to be hosting the Heritage Rally which was held in a different Queensland town every two years.
“This event, with the amount of exhibitors and tourists, will benefit not only Kingaroy but the whole of the South Burnett,” she said.
She said the club was seeking sponsorships and donations to fund the 2022 rally.
“We are only a small club and we need financial help to hold such an event,” Charmaine said.
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The Journey
The Vintage Machinery Club’s new building began life in 1960 thanks to a £5000 loan from Red Cross headquarters; a £1000 bequest from the estate of Thomas Gawn; and donations from several different Kingaroy groups and organisations.
Its first role was as the Red Cross Rest Rooms in Albert Street, which provided accommodation for the families of Kingaroy Hospital patients.
The Rest Rooms were officially opened on February 25, 1961, at a Red Cross fete after being painted by local volunteers.
In 1983, the building was moved to grounds of Kingaroy Hospital and over the next 29 years was used as a blood bank; a library for Kingaroy Hospital patients (from 1972 to 1996); and the headquarters for a medical loan service.
In 2012, it was converted by builder Richard Rose into a canteen, run by the Kingaroy Hospital Auxiliary.
However, the building’s hospital service came to an end in 2020 with the announcement of the construction of the new Kingaroy Hospital as a café was included in the design.
Darling Downs Health put the building out to tender and South Burnett Regional Council also offered to assist any local community group which wanted to buy the building.
The Kingaroy & District Vintage Machinery Club put in the successful bid, and the rest is history …
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