Residents and visitors to Greater Shepparton will have an opportunity to visit heritage properties never before opened to the public and many that are rarely on view at the inaugural Heritage Open Day. Some places are only available via a booking whilst an extensive range of others can be visited independently.
The Heritage Open Day, an initiative of the Greater Shepparton Heritage Advisory Committee and Greater Shepparton City Council, provides an exciting opportunity to participate in free bus trips, walks, talks, tours and visits to over 40 places of historic interest.
Highlights will include tours and visits to some of the region’s historic homesteads and hotels, halls, churches, mosques and other places of worship, as well as various places of cultural interest that showcase Greater Shepparton’s diverse and unique heritage.
Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Dinny Adem said “Conserving our heritage is more than maintaining architecturally important buildings. We must identify culturally important places to ensure that our history is recorded and conserved for future generations, and, critically, we must celebrate their significance. That is one of the main objectives of the Heritage Open Day.”
“Greater Shepparton has an interesting history with Aboriginal people inhabiting the area for thousands of generations. Europeans arrived in the mid-nineteenth century and developed a thriving agricultural economy centered on the city of Shepparton,” said Cr Adem.
“Subsequent settlement has welcomed people from all over the world and consequently we have a wealth of heritage places and a diverse and unique range of both buildings and sites, many of which will be showcased on the Open Heritage Day.”
Greater Shepparton City Council Acting Director Sustainable Development Geraldine Christou said this is the first time a Heritage Open Day has been held for a regional area. “The idea was inspired by the Open House Melbourne series and our Greater Shepparton Heritage Advisory Committee has worked very hard to secure an interesting and varied range of properties for people to visit.”
“People will have a wealth of properties to visit. You may have to make hard decisions as there is so much on offer and getting from one place to another takes time in an extensive municipality such as ours,” said Ms Christou.
“I encourage people to plan their day carefully so they are able to do a few different things. The Committee has tried to stagger tour and venue times, and we have some very generous venue owners and proprietors who are offering access to their properties.”
“We are also very pleased the Dyson Group has generously donated buses for the day and Prominent Group Best Printers donated their services to print booklets. The Committee is very grateful for their assistance. We would also like to recognise the Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District for organising the bus tour to the temple and mosques.”
A booklet is available from the Council foyer, libraries and the Visitor Centre and online on Council’s website. All bus tours, some walks and some visits will require bookings. Early bookings are essential to avoid disappointment.
Tour and booking information is also available on the Greater Shepparton City Council website at www.greatershepparton.com.au or by calling the Building and Planning Department on 03 5832 9730.
