Believed to be the last steam powered sawmill operating in Queensland, the Elgin Vale mill has sat dormant and unused for the past 30 years. Source: Gympie Times
Now, the Gympie Woodworks Museum will be bringing the heritage building near Manumbar back to glory with the help of $49,000 in funding from the State Government.
Private Forestry Service Queensland’s executive officer Sean Ryan was thrilled with the grant, which allowed them to make significant repairs to the sawmill.
“It’s been a long time since any work has been done on it, so it’s deteriorated quite markedly,” Mr Ryan said. “There’s a whole range of repairs and maintenance that’s needed.”
Among the repairs needed are replacements of 200 stumps, fixing the iron roof, and major refurbishment inside the nearby houses.
The funding allows them to begin emergency works, with the entire restoration project expected to take five years.
When finished, Mr Ryan hoped it would exist as an extension of the Woodworks Museum.
“It’s a particularly good example of those early bush mills that were set up all over the place,” he said. “I’m hoping to get it working again.
“I’m keen to get people involved with it in the past back on board…and then in the longer term make it part of the historical precinct.”
Originally opened in 1944 to replace an earlier sawmill which stood on the site, the Elgin Vale mill was thought to be one of Queensland’s largest sawmills by the end of the 1940s.
It was located near one of the region’s original sources of hoop pine, which was one of the main building materials used in Queensland’s history.
Owned by the council, it was added to the Queensland Heritage register in September 2010.
While the building has remained unused since it closed, the original steam and boiler engines and equipment still remain at the site.
