I wish the Gympie and District Historical Society success in their David and Goliath contest with the council over the proposed demolition of the gantry at the site of the Gold Mining Museum.
Unlike the Civic Centre, there is some dispute about which body may have been culpable in allowing the condition of the gantry to deteriorate to its now apparently dangerous condition. And which body has demolition rights or restoration responsibilities?
Gympie’s significance in Queensland history is irrevocably identified with the discovery of gold.
Consequently, the remaining relics of that long-ago era, including the gantry, should be protected and preserved as precious assets.
Once it is demolished the gantry will be merely a ghost of a forgotten past.
Talk of ‘opportunities to salvage the materials wherever possible’- the words of a Gympie Regional Council ‘spokesperson’, not of someone we elected – are arrant nonsense.
As is the notion of compensating for the destruction of the historical gantry with ‘new Infrastructure’ more suited to the future.
Both statements reveal a total ignorance of the essential character of the gantry as a remarkable symbol of the origins of the City of Gold.
The gantry is and should remain, a rare object of interest to tourists and visitors as well as a treasured historical icon for future generations of Gympie residents.
– Merv Welch,
The Palms
