March 9, 2022
A strip of empty shops at the corner of Lamb and Gore streets in Murgon will finally get a new lease of life in the next few months.
The shops are part of the Heritage-listed Murgon Town Hall – owned by the South Burnett Regional Council – and formerly housed a video store, a snack shop and a charity shop.
The charity shop and snack shop had both closed down by mid-2020, and the video store owner told Council they planned to go into retirement when their lease expired in September that year.
This happy coincidence of vacancies gave the Council a rare opportunity to carry out maintenance and repair work on all three shops, which staff planned to do in November and December so they could put the shops back out to lease in early 2021.
However, closer inspection soon disclosed all three premises were lined with asbestos, which needed to be removed before the shops could be returned to public use.
And the COVID pandemic complicated the task.
At Wednesday’s Community standing committee, Cr Kathy Duff reported that N.C Webber Building Services was now working on the final phase of the project.
“To date all the linings, glazing and security bars have been removed and they’ve exposed some beautiful windows,” Cr Duff said.
“New glazing and cladding have been installed on the external walls, and the works are on track to be completed by the end of March.”
Expressions of interest for leasing the shops are expected to be issued later this month or early April.
- Related article: Shops Available For Lease Soon
