{"id":294597,"date":"2021-02-13T00:03:19","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T14:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=294597"},"modified":"2021-06-10T17:23:53","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T07:23:53","slug":"work-to-start-on-fossil-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2021\/02\/13\/work-to-start-on-fossil-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Work To Start On Fossil Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Richard O’Neill, from the Creative Country Alliance; Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien and Sellwood Constructions’ Jim Adcock lift the first sods for the new building … the concrete bumpers at back, linked to the former railway line, will be removed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

February 13, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Construction of Murgon’s $1.59 million cultural centre, art gallery and fossil museum will begin within weeks.<\/p>\n

The official sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of the project was held on site in Macalister Street on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

It follows years of planning by a small committee of local residents, the\u00a0Creative Country Association (CCA).<\/p>\n

CCA president Richard O’Neill, Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien and builder\u00a0Jim Adcock, from Murgon-based Sellwood Constructions, took turns on the shovels.<\/p>\n

Jim told southburnett.com.au<\/strong>\u00a0there was still some paperwork to sort out, but he expected to begin construction of the centre within the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

The sod-turning ceremony was compered by Murgon Business and Development Association past president Leo Geraghty after a Welcome to Country by CCA member Aunty Annie L’Estrange.<\/p>\n

Leo said it was an historic day for Murgon.<\/p>\n

The building will include a gift shop, fossil display, art gallery and art workshop built around a central garden.<\/p>\n

As well as displays of local Indigenous and non-Indigenous art, the plan is to hold art workshops to support mental health.<\/p>\n

Funding came from Round 4 of the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The land, adjacent to the South Burnett Rail Trail, was donated to the committee by an anonymous local benefactor.<\/p>\n

The building will fill the whole site and aims to add to the tourism experience of visitors to Murgon.<\/p>\n

The railway bumpers on the land will be removed but a large bottle tree at the front will remain.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Brien said he was pleased to be present for the “shiny shovel” moment but he was really looking forward to the opening of the building.<\/p>\n

He thanked the volunteers for their hard work in getting the project to this point.<\/p>\n

“We want more people to come here and experience Murgon, understand what its about and the\u00a0Creative Country Association cultural centre will do that,” he said.<\/p>\n

Richard said the project had been the dream of a lot of people in Murgon for 12 years and he thanked Mr O’Brien for his help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said the amount of interest which had been shown in the project was “unreal”.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had people come forward – the last people you’d ever think of – with fossils,” Richard said.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Brien said the project would be an\u00a0important boost to the local economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will start to see some immediate benefits from this investment with about 40 jobs during the construction phase, and a further four permanent jobs once it opens early next year,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It will bolster the valuable South Burnett tourism sector by adding to the range of products and experiences on offer in the region.”<\/p>\n

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Some of the people behind the Murgon project pose on site with Cr Kathy Duff, local MP Llew O’Brien and Mayor Brett Otto … from left, Cr Duff, Edna and Richard O’Neill, Col Pearen, Carolyn Summers, Glenda Geraghty, Llew O’Brien, Mayor Brett Otto and Leo Geraghty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And This Is What All The Fuss Is About …\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

A wide range of vertebrate fossils has been recovered from a secret site near Murgon since the 1930s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scientists have identified fossils dated to about 55 million years ago, before the final break-up of Gondwana.<\/p>\n

As well as fish, turtle and crocodile fossils, traces of Australia’s oldest marsupials, frogs, snakes, non-marine birds, the oldest bat in the Southern Hemisphere and an early condylarth-like placental mammal have been found.<\/p>\n

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Mayor Brett Otto, Cr Kathy Duff, Glenda Geraghty and Lainie McInerney inspect some of the Murgon fossils on Thursday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Two ancient crocodile teeth found near Murgon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Project supporter Lainie McInerney with a piece of fossil, possibly crocodile<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A collection of recent fossils collected near Murgon … some are yet to be classified by scientists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A fossilised footprint from the Murgon site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leo Geraghty examines another rock which contains a fossil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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