DRAMATIC works are well underway to breathe new life back into two old cemetery beauties.
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This pavilion, up the back amid newer sections in Ballarat New Cemetery, and a sister cupola in Ballaarat Old Cemetery have been stripped back to their bones for restoration works.
Gradually, bits of roofing are returning.
The pavilions date back to the early 1890s and were being meticulously conserved and repaired, if needed, with materials sourced from the region.
Ballarat General Cemeteries chief executive Annie De Jong confirmed parts of fascia and guttering were reappearing slowly as they are reworked.
All steel worked was peeled off the monuments - part will be re-used and part recreated - and both were looking a little speckled due to water-proof blasting ahead of painting and treating.
Ms De Jong said this was a slow and careful process but visitors should start to notice a real difference when painting hopefully started with warmer weather in spring.
The rotundas had become no longer safe for public use. One, near Ballarat New Cemetery's Norman Street entrance, has already been renewed but two more in the city's largest cemetery remain in disrepair.
A $128,000 state government grant delivered by Wendouree MP Juliana Addison last spring is driving the latest $200,000 works. Ballarat General Cemeteries Trust funded the first pavilion renewal.
The pavilion in Ballarat Old Cemetery are slightly behind because this first needed a heritage overlay permit. While there was no heritage overlay on the same structures in Ballarat New Cemetery, Ms De Jong said these were still important, well-known sites.
We've got two more to do and we need to start looking at opportunities for more funding...these are not heritage listed but they are significant monuments in the cemeteries.
- Annie De Jong, Ballarat General Cemeteries
"We've got two more to do and we need to start looking at opportunities for more funding or how the trust might be able to help," Ms De Jong said.
"Lots of the trust's funds go into new memorial areas for the community...these are not heritage listed but they are significant monuments in the cemeteries."
The pavilions also have practical value. They are in key locations to offer shelter for visitors or grieving families.
Ms De Jong has said offering shelter can be a challenge in cemeteries where the focus was on caring for people who had died.
IN OTHER NEWS
More than 500 people visit Ballarat New Cemetery each weekend and special occasions, such as Mother's Day or Christmas, can draw more than 2000 visitors. Ballarat New Cemetery also offered green space for community passive recreation.
Meanwhile, seasonal garden work continues in Ballarat New Cemetery. Horticulture staff last week hosted a community rose-pruning class while they set about maintenance on the cemetery's more than 2,500 roses.
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