Celebrating 150 years: Murchison Primary School principal Karen Goodwin with students at the new gate.
Former students, staff and families will finally return to celebrate Murchison Primary School’s 150th anniversary following a year of waiting due to the pandemic — and the school has taken a new approach to its celebrations.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The school has reproduced its famed World War II memorial gates to create a second memorial entry — this one dedicated to youth in the region who served Australia in World War I.
The original Impey St entry gates were put up in 1949 — four years after World War II ended — and feature fine stone masonry walls, ornate ironwork and marble tablets bearing the names of servicemen in gold leaf.
These older gates lead to the historic Impey St schoolhouse, which was built in 1906 and is still in use. The new gates lead to the school’s more modern front entry building.
School principal Karen Goodwin said the work could not have been done without a $10,000 grant from the Department of Veteran Affairs.
“The actual cost to rebuild these gates was much higher but we had some goodwill along the way,” Mrs Goodwin said.
Mrs Goodwin said the project was an important one for the school, and for local families with a direct link to those impacted by World War I and II.
“Before we began this project the main entrance to our school was a horrible old farm gate. Now we have two very special entrances that our community, including the Murchison RSL sub-branch, can be really proud of,” she said.
“Some of the names on the memorial gates directly link to local families, including several students of today.”
Mrs Goodwin said when it came time to choose a stonemason for the gates, a former student came to mind in Jason Webb, who is based in Rushworth.
“It also just so happened I taught Jason Webb at Rushworth, so that was a nice touch,” Mrs Goodwin said.
Mr Webb said his business enjoyed the challenges of the project and appreciated the historic significance.
“I understand the original gate was designed by a bricklayer who has passed on, but apparently he had sourced the stone locally,” Mr Webb said.
Tribute: The ode, written on a tablet designed by handyman Pete Cantlin to show respect for all local war heroes.
“We found a good match between Murchison and Nagambie, and chose stone that will weather nicely to match the original in years to come.”
Former head handyman of Wanganui Park Secondary College Pete Cantlin, who has four children attending Murchison Primary School, helped make the intricate metal feature.
“Pete saved us thousands of dollars with the project, thanks to his talent in working with metal,” Mrs Goodwin said.
The gates will be a central feature of a fete planned for November 5 to celebrate 150 years of the school. To find out more about the event, visitwww.murchps.vic.edu.au
