The facility now provides two buildings available for community use and a permanent home for the Filipino Australia Friends Association (FAFA) to store Philippine history and artefacts.
The works have included the restoration of the two buildings; consisting of a kitchen and restaurant in one building, and an exhibition hall in the other building.
Greater Shepparton City Council Director Community Kaye Thomson said Council worked closely with the Filipino-Australian Friends Association in order to redevelop the facility.
“FAFA have worked for a number of years to have this facility restored to its former condition. This now provides a meeting place for the Filipino community as well as the wider Greater Shepparton community.”
FAFA President, John Nisbet said “we are very happy that Council has restored the house so that the Filipino community once again has a base to work from.”
The Philippine House restoration works were funded through grants from Building Multicultural Communities Program (BMCP) offered by the Department of Social Services ($150,000) and the Multicultural Community Infrastructure Fund (MCIF) offered by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship ($70,000). Greater Shepparton City Council provided $268,000 towards the project.
