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| Anne Salt and Denise Rushworth working on the fence yesterday |
VOLUNTEERS from the Friends of Willow Court have made a good start on the restoration of the fence at the entrance to The Avenue. After years of neglect and abuse, the heritage gateway is now on the road to restoration.
Volunteers spent yesterday and today on the job, under the supervision of restoration expert Rod Quarrell. The work was approved by Heritage Tasmania and is expected to be concluded next weekend. Many layers of paint were removed, which revealed that while the fence has been white for several decades it was once blue. It is believed the repaired structure will be coated in pitch rather than paint.
The fence and gateway was installed in 1938, which was the time the then Lachlan Park Hospital was expanding beyond its walled enclosure between The Avenue (originally an extension of Burnett St) and Humphrey St. The fence appears to have been altered for road-widening at some point, which is possibly when the gates were removed.
Comment below or email newnorfolknews@gmail.com if you have any ideas about where the missing gates could be found. The “gateway” sign on Hobart Rd has already been investigated and ruled out.
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| Mercury newspaper photo of the fence in October 1938 |
