Today the City of Hobart announced a new grant scheme designed to support preservation of the city’s built heritage.
The Heritage Grant is funded through a long-term investment fund established in the 1960s to preserve and restore Hobart’s historic buildings.
Educational and interpretation projects that highlight the heritage value of the property are also eligible under the funding guidelines.
The grant is open to owners of properties within the City of Hobart local government area that are listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register or as a place of cultural significance within the Hobart Interim Planning Scheme 2015 or Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme 1997.
Cash support is available for up to one-third of the total project cost, to a maximum of $10,000.
Applications for the grant are now open, closing at 5pm on Monday 18 October. More information at hobartcity.com.au/heritagegrant.
A previous recipient of a heritage grant was the St Georges’ Church in Battery Point.
Tasmanian Times spoke with Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, Deputy Lord Mayor Helen Burnet, Alderman Jeff Briscoe and the Reverend Victor Shaw of St Georges’ Church about the new scheme and the church renovation.
Anna Reynolds
I’m here with the other members of our Heritage Accounts Committee, Deputy Lord Mayor Helen Burnet, and Alderman Jeff Briscoe.
The Heritage Accounts Committee has been in place for a number of years at the City of Hobart.
We have just recently relaunched our heritage grants program; there has been a bit of a hiatus over a couple of years of no heritage grants. So we’re all really pleased that we’ve been able to have a new heritage grants program, because it is a really important part of retaining and supporting and retaining heritage in Hobart and supporting heritage building owners.
Owning heritage buildings can be challenging. There can be works that requires very specialist skills and quite expensive support and maintenance. And so we’re hoping that our heritage grants program does provide some impetus for people that may have been thinking about doing some work, but haven’t quite sort of got around to making it happen. We’re hoping that through the grants program, we can encourage some of those buildings to either have some new, some much needed maintenance, or a bit of a makeover, if it’s something to actually bring the building to life again. So I think I’ll hand over now to the Deputy Mayor
Helen Burnet
This is a really good opportunity for for those people who have been entrusted the legacy of an old house, or perhaps a shop or other venue. And one of those, it’s a labour of love when you do have a heritage building. These grants are dedicated specifically as part of this heritage special account to really put money back into looking after those beautiful old buildings.
So it’s a great chance for people who might have a bit of time on their hands who want to specifically do a project: it might be fixing the the brickwork, or the timber work at the front of their house, or something as a defined project, which this grant is really there to try and use. We really encourage people to use these grants that are available. I think they’re the only grants for heritage buildings that are available. So we really encourage people to take them up and to really show off their heritage building.
Tasmanian Times
Have there been any recent changes to the eligibility requirements of this grant program?
Helen Burnet
We’ve done a review and as Anna has said, it hasn’t been available for a little while. So it’s really a chance for the amount – so specifically the amount that people can apply for is $10,000 or up to $10,000, which is a third of the overall cost of the project or the projected cost of the project – it’s really aiding that heritage heritage work to be done.
Tasmanian Times
Could you just explain where this money comes from. Is it like a slug on ratepayers that the council’s got all this money to give away?
Jeff Briscoe
This fund was set up, like I think probably about 25 to 30 years ago by the state government and they put some money into it and at the time the council put some money into it. By legislation the money can only be spent on heritage restoration or heritage works. Why the fund hasn’t been granting grants for the last two years, it’s that we’ve made some major contributions – and some recipients are probably here – and so we decided to stop it until the fund recovered from those quite major grants. So I think as we all know, it is independent of the council budget. It’s a special fund set up under law that could only, as I said, only can be spent on heritage projects for the city.
So no slug on the ratepayers, but we’re really, really pleased that we’ve managed to now get it back on track for smaller grants. And hopefully, every two years we’ll have this grant program. And as Hobart is the second oldest European city in Australia, and we have such a mixture of heritage from the colonial right up to the 30s and 40s and later, and it’s unlike any other Australian city. People come to Hobart for that, for that blend of colonial and blend of Edwardian and so on. So I think it’s an important program that the city maintains,
Tasmanian Times
As you know, interest rates are fairly low and returns on term deposits are fairly low from a historical point of view. So what challenges does that present in trying to manage a trust fund and the returns from that?
Jeff Briscoe
As the Deputy Lord Mayor has said, we have had a review by the people that have the funds under investment, and we’ve changed the mixture. It used to be just term deposits, I believe now it’s a mixture of term deposits and more growth type of things in shares. Fairly conservative still, but it enables us to give a considerable amount of money away, but still maintaining the buying power of the fund, which… it is quite a significant amount of money. But we don’t want it to go too quickly backwards, because we want it to continue as long as it can. So as I said, we did a review or our advisors did a review, and we’ve changed the mixture of our investments, the city’s investments.
Tasmanian Times
You’ve been a beneficiary of this fund, I understand. So what does that mean to St George’s Church here in Battery Point?
Rev Victor Shaw
It’s a great privilege for us as St George’s to be custodians of this absolutely gorgeous, iconic landmark building in the city. The tower was constructed in 1847. And since then, kind of been shining as a beacon of hope over the city, serving generations, not only of church members and people in the church community, but also the wider city. So a few years ago, as has been alluded to, the Hobart City Council awarded us a $300,000 heritage grant to help restore the building. We’d also received some funds from the state government, from the Tasmanian Community Fund, we were also able to receive a significant federal grant as well. And all of that has enabled us to do the most significant restoration work on the church, I think, in its whole life.
We actually had to dismantle and totally reconstruct some of the cornice, because it was so badly decayed, the stone. We had a 60 tonne crane here lifting these incredible three, four tonne blocks of stone, beautifully carved, to put them in place. The project’s kind gone on over a couple of years. And we couldn’t have done this without the support of those different agencies and the council, you know, the most significant of the local agencies who supported us, as well as, of course, members of the community who are giving as well. The building, we hold it in trust for the city, in that sense, and it’s very much loved across the city. And so we’re delighted, we’re very thankful for the the council’s support and contribution there. And that this can continue to stand as a beacon over the city for generations to come.
Tasmanian Times
So would you say that the majority of that money cycled back into the local economy through purchases of local goods and services as you expended that grant?
Rev Victor Shaw
It’s kind of a both and one there. We did have a number of different labourers and local contractors working on it. Unfortunately, the scale of the project and the complexity of the stonework meant that when we put it out to tender a company from the mainland won that tender. And they brought in some of their own, you know, people to work on it. And so we had some of that, but we also had to some local folk as well.
Tasmanian Times
Do you think this grant program in general might encourage the development of more sort of artisanal skills here in Tasmania? We’ve got plenty of heritage buildings, as it turns out.
Rev Victor Shaw
I really hope so. I mean, one of the things that I never thought I would get to know about when I did my theology degree was stone work, and managing a heritage building. And so that’s been one of the treats for me, being here and seeing these highly skilled craftsmen at work and getting to know some of the local stonemasons.
I’d love to see more of these grants being able to support the local artisans with this highly specialised trade. And as has been said, Hobart has so many magnificent heritage buildings over quite a long period. There’s always work for the stonemasons and others on these. It can only be a good thing if they’re able to continue to hone their trade, get good employment, and the grants are going to really support that, I’m sure.
Tasmanian Times
And lastly, for people who are not perhaps religious, but are interested in architecture and heritage, what’s a good time for them to visit St George’s and have a look around without disturbing your regular activities?
Rev Victor Shaw
We do tours by appointment. You can just find us on the website, stgeorgesbatterypoint.org. Get in touch with us and we can arrange to show you around. We also participate in Open House Hobart, which is in November; there’s lots of tours of architecture around the city, it’s a great festival. And so it’s another great time to come along. Of course, you’re very welcome, the doors are open on a Sunday. You can come before or after service, you’re welcome to join us at church as well and check it out. And during the week, the door to our foyer is open and so the glass doors are locked, but you still get to come and see a bit of it. But I love doing tours of the building. It’s got a magnificent, not only architecture, but history, lots of interesting characters. And so we’d love to hear from people if they’d like to come and check it out.
