Maitland City Council was successful in its application for $153,000 in state government funding for heritage projects across Maitland as part of the latest round of Heritage NSW Grants.
Maitland City Council was successful in its application for $153,000 in state government funding for heritage projects across Maitland as part of the latest round of Heritage NSW Grants.
The funded projects include a Morpeth Aboriginal Cultural History Project that seeks to embrace, document and share the rich Aboriginal history of the Morpeth area; public interpretation and documentation of the historically significant Maitland Town Hall; continuation of the staged conservation works on East Maitland Glebe Cemetery; and the development of ‘Water Works!’, a digital tour experience of the water pumping technologies at Walka Water Works.
Council’s Manager Strategic Planning Andrew Neil says ‘these projects reflect the richness of significant places in Maitland and will result in newly researched, conserved and presented information on Aboriginal, industrial and built heritage.
‘Council is grateful to Heritage NSW for the opportunity to explore and celebrate some of Maitland’s most significant sites and areas’.
The Morpeth Aboriginal Cultural History Project seeks to deepen the understanding of Wonnarua culture throughout the wider community. Council will work closely with the local Aboriginal community to ensure that the Aboriginal History, which precedes Morpeth’s post Contact colonial history by 80,000 years, is accurately documented and shared. A key part of engagement will be a Corroboree that will be held by Mindaribba Land Council as part of the Morpeth bicentenary commemorations in November 2021.
The Maitland Town Hall Interpretation Project will provide a public interpretation of the Maitland Town Hall, contributing to its position at the heart of a major civic redevelopment in Central Maitland. The heritage significance of the Maitland Town Hall and the associated heritage items will be digitally catalogued and referenced in the development of an audio visual production based around the heritage significance.
Stage two of the conservation works to historically significant East Maitland Glebe Cemetery will see the restoration and preservation of gravestones, vaults and iconic monuments.
‘Water Works’! is a project that seeks to connect visitors with Walka Water Works during its operation in the 19th and 20th centuries, alongside social insights to the community at the time, through a digital tour that will take people virtually inside the pumphouse to experience its sights, sounds and stories. It follows the completion of the Walka Waterworks Interpretation Masterplan Stage 1 and Stage 2, with resources and experiences developed on the themes of Ecology and creativity.
The projects will be undertaken over two years between 2021 and 2023 and are proudly funded by the NSW Government in association with Maitland City Council.
