Plans to re-assemble Keilor’s first police station have ground to a halt because the project has repeatedly failed to qualify for state government assistance.
The heritage-listed pre-fabricated hut was shifted last year from Keilor North to a Keilor Park site that is also home to the cottage of pioneer settler James Harrick, as part of a preservation project steered by Brimbank council.
The hut was scheduled for removal and relocation from a private property in Keilor North three years ago after an archaeological survey.
But the building was not dismantled and shifted until last year. Almost 12 months later the hut is still just a pile of iron sheets.
Brimbank city development director Stuart Menzies said there is limited heritage funding available from the state government.
“The reassembly of the police hut relies on the availability of heritage funding,” Mr Menzies said.
He said grant applications had been unsuccessful in 2014 and 2015 but the council would continue to actively pursue funding to ensure the hut’s long-term conservation.
A Victoria Heritage Council report says the former police station is historically significant because of its role as a bastion of government control along Victoria’s main goldfields route.
Keilor Historical Society president Susan Jennison described the situation as a “waiting game”.
“We just have to wait,” she said.
The project is expected to cost about $280,000.
