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Tuesday 12 October, 2021
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Vol 15 No 40
Kiln restoration rejected By Lachlan Ellis
Russ Hendry (BM Lions) said the unique Chicory Kiln missed out on a Heritage Victoria grant to restore parts of the 1885 building. Photo – Helen Tatchell
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Plans to restore the famous Bacchus Marsh Chicory Kiln have been dropped, due to Heritage Victoria declining to help fund the project. The Bacchus Marsh Lions Club, in partnership with the local Rotary Club, Community Bank, and the owner of the chicory kiln, were seeking a $25,000 ‘Living Heritage Grant’ for the $50,000 project. However, Heritage Victoria said the application had been unsuccessful in a letter to the Lions Club. Project coordinator, Russ Hendry (Bacchus Marsh Lions Club), said the Lions Club and its partners were “disappointed” to not receive funding under the program. “We thought it was a good project for Bacchus Marsh as the Lions Club, we were pretty pleased that Rotary, the Community Bank, and the kiln owner supported us. We stacked up our half of the funding, but they [Heritage Victoria] didn’t put up the other half,” Mr Hendry told the Moorabool News. “We gave it a go and we missed out…I was disappointed they didn’t respond to us during the application process. It took them six months to decide. “But there were lots of other worthy projects, they got funding before us and that was fine…I’m just disappointed that during the process, no-one contacts the applicants. It’s a worthy project, but it’s fallen down…that’s their call, they’re paying the money,” he said. The Bacchus Marsh Chicory Kiln was constructed in 1885 by the Pearce family and closed in 1910. It was built to dry chicory roots, which were grown in Bacchus Marsh at the time, and can be used as a coffee substitute when baked and ground. It is the largest known chicory kiln in Victoria, and was Heritage registered in 2016. The restoration project would have restored the building, roof, collapsed circular vent, and repainted of the ‘Indian Root Pill’ sign on the southern wall. The restored kiln was also proposed to be opened to the public occasionally, with its history displayed on signs around the perimeter. The Bacchus Marsh Chicory Kiln was one of many projects that applied for funding under Round 6 of the Living Heritage Program, and in the end 19 projects, totalling $2.36 million, were supported. Heritage Victoria encourages applicants who were unsuccessful in Round 6 to apply for the next round of funding, which opens on 1 February 2022. However, Mr Hendry said the Chicory Kiln project would not be one of the Round 7 applicants.