Kosciuszko Huts Rebuild Program

WHEN the 2019-20 bushfires raged through Kosciuszko National Park and adjoining towns, it left a swathe of destruction. Included in the burnt rubble were many destroyed Kosciuszko Huts.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) initiated a rebuilding program in 2022 to restore 11 of the huts back to original condition. NPWS builder Roger Rosenboom, Field O cer Peter Dow, project manager Megan Bowden, plus volunteers from the Kosciuszko Huts Association (KHA) and associated families have been working to steadily restore the destroyed huts.

Sawyers Hut on the Snowy Mountains Highway between Adaminaby and Kiandra was the first hut completed in 2022. Sawyers Hut had also been badly damaged in the prior 2003 fires, and many of the huts destroyed in the 2019-20 fires were also damaged or destroyed in 2003.

National Parks said the rebuilding program is full steam ahead in 2023, and although there have been time frame setbacks due to weather, including February snow, rebuilding is underway on Delanys and Vickery’s huts.

Delanys Hut was destroyed in both the 2003 and 2020 bushfires, the latest rebuild nearing completion in autumn 2023. There will be an o cial opening of both Delanys and Sawyers planned for Saturday 1st April for interested parties.

One of the more interesting rebuilds is Vickery’s Hut which was originally constructed in 1938. The log hut has been pre-fabricated in a work shed in Tumut. In early 2023 Vickery’s Hut was then dismantled and transported to site at Jounama Creek near Talbingo with the help of Wagga 4WD. NPWS o cers Roger and Peter then reassembled the log hut, completed the roof and fitted the verandah. Timber used to rebuild the huts has been sourced from local mills.

Tumut business Tom’s Outdoors, who supplied the photo of Peter Dow at work on Vickery’s Hut, have been documenting the rebuild program and will release videos at select times during the building program.

In March the hut rebuilding team are also involved in the Alps Heritage Huts workshop. The workshop, to be held for three days from March 10-12 at Currango Homestead will further educate sta and volunteers in heritage hut and other heritage structures management, maintenance and restoration work and projects. There will be both theory and practical work including splitting slabs and weatherboards for the future rebuild of Four Mile Hut. www.khuts.org

Planning and consultation is continuing with caretaker groups and families regarding other huts, including Harvey’s and Bradley/O’Brien’s Hut which are scheduled to start this autumn. More families associated with the huts have been making contact which is adding to the rich history of each place and connections with other places.

(KHA) is a voluntary association formed in 1971 and for more than 50 years has carried out maintenance activities on most of the remaining huts and homesteads in KNP.

Each hut has its own unique history, some built for stockmen who grazed cattle in the mountains, some used by miners and cross-country skiers. To read more history on all the huts, you can visit the Kosciuszko Huts website where they itemise each hut, and significant time periods in each hut’s history.

Rebuilding Program (subject to change)

Rest House at Sawyers Hill: Completed 2022

Vickery’s: February 2023

Delany’s: March 2023

Harveys/Tantangara: March/April 2023

Bradley/O’Brien’s: April/May/June 2023

Brooks: September, October, November 2023

Happy’s: December 23, January, February 2024

Four Mile: March/April/May 2024

Fifteen Mile/Linesmans: December 24, January, February 2025

Round Mountain: March, April, May 2025

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