{"id":195069,"date":"2017-11-11T01:08:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T15:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=195069"},"modified":"2020-08-11T12:25:45","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T02:25:45","slug":"big-day-for-an-85-year-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/11\/11\/big-day-for-an-85-year-old\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Day For An 85-Year-Old"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brisbane heritage restoration expert Brian Maxwell has been working on restoring Kingaroy’s 85-year-old Memorial Park Rotunda for the past three months<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 11, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brisbane heritage expert Brian Maxwell is breathing a big sigh of relief this Remembrance Day … and so is Kingaroy RSL.<\/p>\n

On Friday afternoon, Brian and his crew completed the first phase of a $198,000 restoration project to return Kingaroy’s war memorial rotunda to robust health.<\/p>\n

Over the decades the 85-year-old structure had been ravaged by water leaking into its roof and rotting its wooden floorboards.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Kingaroy RSL obtained a grant to cover part of the costs of restoring it and the South Burnett Regional Council agreed to contribute the balance.<\/p>\n

Brian, who trained as a plasterer and specialises in heritage plastering techniques, was awarded the tender to undertake the project and set to work on August 17.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He initially expected the first phase of the job would take about six weeks.<\/p>\n

But as he stripped the building back to basics, he uncovered a series of problems that made the job stretch much longer than he expected.<\/p>\n

One was that the rotunda had been painted – and repainted – many, many times in its long life.<\/p>\n

This made the task stripping it back a time-consuming and tedious process.<\/p>\n

Another was that the brickwork supporting the foundations was made of precast concrete, and parts of it had not survived the ravages of time and water particularly well.<\/p>\n

And a third was that the rotunda’s roof and floorboards were decrepit and required replacement.<\/p>\n

“It took us five weeks just to prepare it for repairs,” Brian said.<\/p>\n

“Then it took another seven weeks to do them.”<\/p>\n

“With Remembrance Day coming up, the pressure to get the job done was really starting to build.”<\/p>\n

But on Saturday when Kingaroy holds its traditional Remembrance Day commemoration service in Memorial Park, the Rotunda will be ready for use, though it will look more threadbare than usual.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brian said he will be returning to complete the remainder of the restoration in about a month after the building has dried properly.<\/p>\n

Kingaroy’s Remembrance Day service will begin at 10:35am and will be addressed by two guest speakers this year – St Mary’s Catholic College’s incoming school captains Bridget McDonald and Harrison Lucas.<\/p>\n

Other South Burnett towns that will also be holding their own Remembrance Day services include Blackbutt, Yarraman, Nanango, Wondai, Murgon, Cherbourg, Goomeri, Kilkivan and Boondooma, most between 10:45am and 11:15am.<\/p>\n