A PIECE of history will be incorporated into the upgraded Gunnedah police station, after workers unearthed the foundations of the old Gunnedah gaol.
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Construction on the site was halted for a short time after the discovery.
More than 10 sandstone rocks were discovered and the NSW office of Environment and Heritage needed time to ensure the site was properly assessed.
Site foreman for Patterson Group Bob Mudie told the NVI that despite the delay the project is on schedule.
“We are pretty well on target,” Mr Mudie said.
“We are aiming to have this part completed by late April, but at this stage I’d say early May is more likely.
“From there we will move the police out of the current station into the new facility and begin work on the demolition of that building.”
Mr Mudie said the discovery of the former gaol’s foundations was “a bit of a surprise”.
“We knew the gaol was around here, but we didn't know exactly where,” he said.
“It was really interesting because of the age of the rock, as I have been told the gaol was built around 1876 and the stone was all hand cut.
“In fact on some of them you can still see the original chisel marks.
“So we were delayed by about two weeks to give the people from heritage enough time to get archaeologists and things like that out here to examine the site and allow us to continue.
“They have told us that we will have to use some of the original sandstone in the new structure, which should be a very interesting feature.”
Gunnedah Historical Society’s Bob Leicester said the use of the original sandstone in the new facility was “very pleasing”.
“It’s so important to preserve Gunnedah’s history,” Mr Leicester said.
“The society is always pleased when something is done to link our rich history with the future.
“I’m not sure what exactly they will do with the sandstone, but we are very much looking forward to seeing what they look like when complete.”
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Mr Mudie said the next stage of construction will be concreting and frame works.
“Concreting will start on Wednesday and then we will start to have all the frames and trusses up on Friday, and people will start to see it go up really quickly and it should only take a couple of weeks to go up,” Mr Mudie said.
“The trades have worked out really well so far, most of them have come from Tamworth or Gunnedah, but we do have some coming from far away such as Western Australia.”
Director of Civil and Structures, Daniel Duggan, said his crew – that are in charge of the form work and concreting – are enjoying working in Gunnedah.
“It’s a great town and people have been very friendly,” Mr Duggan said.
“So far we have found that the folks here are easier people to deal with than in other places we have worked.
“As well as the people being great, the police have been really great with so much work going on around them.”
The $5.5 million NSW government project is expected to be complete in October this year.
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
