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General News

13 October, 2022

New grants to boost Talbot

The Talbot community will soon benefit from over $16,000 worth of grant funding to help revitalise an open space and historic building. Talbot Action Inc and the Talbot Arts and Historical Museum are two of more than 130 community groups...

By Riley Upton

Talbot Action Inc’s Market Square sub committee’s Patty Brown and Amanda Wedgewood (right) with Carramar Nursery’s Dave Schuppan.
Talbot Action Inc’s Market Square sub committee’s Patty Brown and Amanda Wedgewood (right) with Carramar Nursery’s Dave Schuppan.

The Talbot community will soon benefit from over $16,000 worth of grant funding to help revitalise an open space and historic building.

Talbot Action Inc and the Talbot Arts and Historical Museum are two of more than 130 community groups Australia-wide sharing in funding through the Strengthening Rural Communities program.

An initiative by the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal, the program funds projects that will directly benefit people living in the local area.

Talbot Arts and Historical Museum received $6776 to repaint the former Amherst Hospital Isolation Ward which forms part of the museum.

“One of our four buildings at the museum is one of the two former isolation wards from Amherst Hospital,” Talbot Arts and Historical Museum’s Marion Miller said.

“It’s very little and as far as we’ve been able to find out, it’s the only remaining example of what they called a chalet style isolation ward.

“It was saved when the hospital was demolished in the 1930s by the family who were doing those demolition works and they had it as part of their property in Maryborough until they donated it to the museum in 2006.

“We don’t know exactly how old it is but we think it potentially goes back to about 1860 and it’s reached the stage of its life where it needs a good strip back and coat of paint professionally and that’s what this grant will enable us to do.”

Ms Miller said the building had significant historic importance for the Talbot community.

“This building is the only remaining intact part of Amherst Hospital as far as we know out of what was a very significant hospital for this area,” she said.

“The hospital was a leader in treatment for tuberculosis (TB) and as far as we know, the isolation huts pre-date the TB wards which were built later but Amherst had a very important role in TB treatment and nurse training.

“This building is important as representative of the work that was done by the pioneering bush hospital that made a name for itself — people used to come here from Melbourne to be treated for TB, it was very significant.”

Just around the corner from the museum, Talbot Action Inc received $9822 to renew the Talbot Market Square space to create a place for community connection and public gathering.

The finishing touches are being put on the market square now, with trees planted in the space, outdoor umbrellas, and planter box seating among the improvements.

Talbot Action Inc’s Market Square sub committee member Amanda Wedgewood said it was great to see the space being brought to life.

“This project has been a while in the making and there have been contributions by both the common-wealth and state governments,” she said.

“Our vision was to create new community space in the town, a place where people could meet, have a coffee or a picnic and ultimately, perhaps have events in that space.

“We were very keen that the heritage values of this space would still be evident but that we would also bring it forward into the way we live now.

“I’ve always had a belief that people in the country can sometimes miss out on quality builds and quality spaces and for me, I think country people have every right to have the quality we see in the city.”

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