By Nicholas Croker
The past 18 months have been hard work for the St Ambrose Memorial Anglican Church Restoration Committee (SAMACRC) as they have waded through processes required to reach their initial goal: a scope of works for stabilisation of the church foundations. This is the first stage of the restoration, and once completed, should enable the community to use this beautiful building again. Site inspections, structural engineering reports, geological reports, foundation stabilisation design, and architectural reviews have all been part of the process so far.
Laser scanning company JDA Co, funded with the help of Community Bank Gilgandra (Bendigo Bank), undertook a complete laser scan of the building providing a computer aided design (CAD) base. Engineering company Bligh Tanner will be able to proceed with design and development sketches and calculations for the restoration. These will be subject to architectural review from Michael Scott, heritage consultant, to form detailed drawings suitable for pricing by a specialist underpinning works contractor. A quote from a construction contractor for the foundation stabilisation works is expected in the coming weeks.
“We have had two amazing local bodies partnering with our committee in this initial stage – without them we would have been still at square one,” said Stuart Border, member of SAMACRC. “Firstly, Community Bank Gilgandra has made two sizeable donations. $6000 towards production of our mandatory required conservation management plan (CMP) which was our first step way back in December 2022.”
“Only last month, they again contributed $4000 towards the cost of the base plan laser scan, another necessary process to enable us to move forward. This support has been a huge help towards us achieving our goals.”
“Secondly, the enthusiasm of councillor Gail Babbage, who has been giving us continuous support from behind; mayor Doug Batten and fellow councillors, general manager David Neeves and his staff has been an enormous boost and provided us with the skill set to be able to take on such an overwhelming task.”
Gilgandra Shire Council have supported SAMACRC with all funding applications and government statutory requirements, and further agreed to sponsor the entire project. This, on top of partnering in the funding for the CMP with a local heritage grant back in 2022. “We are so grateful to Community Bank Gilgandra and Gilgandra Shire Council for their unwavering support of this enormously significant community project – it shows once again the quality of our community’s leadership and strong community spirit,” said Mr Border.
Through successful funding applications with NSW government’s Stronger Communities Program and a NSW Heritage funding program, SAMACRC have been able to secure $300,000 in funding. This is expected to meet approximately half of the initial project cost. SAMACRC has recently been granted tax deductibility status for donations and funding for this project via the National Trust of Australia (NSW). Mr Border is calling on the Gilgandra community for further support of the project.
“We now need to put all our efforts into a fundraising campaign, endeavouring to attract corporate and philanthropic donors willing to contribute towards the cost of this project, raising awareness and highlighting the urgency of our campaign,” he said. “We’re just a voluntary committee that has a million-dollar project in front of us. We want… the community to have the St Ambrose Church back. It’s a significant building for Gilgandra and local history, and the only state heritage listed site in town.”
“We have a desperate need for community members to join our small committee and assist in ramping up [our] campaign.” Those interested in supporting the restoration can contact Mr Border with their inquiries.
