Jessica Micallef
A group of residents rallying to save an old house in Macedon have recevied a funding boost.
Macedon and Mount Macedon Community House Group members have received more than $92,000 from the council to renovate and transform the house at 47 Victoria Street, Macedon into a community hub.
Group chairperson Samara Hodson said she was grateful councillors had once again shown their support, after the council previously committed $142,000 to the project in last year’s budget.
“It’s great that councillors have been able to see that we mean what we say, that we want this building to stay and we want to create a central hub for the Macedon and Mount Macedon community.”
Earlier in the year, group members launched an online crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the renovation.
More than $31,000 was donated to the campaign.
“We started fundraising just as COVID-19 kicked in and it was off the back of the bushfires and we thought the whole think would fall flat,” Ms Hodson said.
“We contacted local businesses and the … support really got us over the line.
“I think the community have showed they really want this hub in the centre of town and they showed that by donating through our fundraising campaign.”
While renovation hasn’t begun at the old house, Ms Hodson said the site would be transformed into a community hub that can by used be used by all.
“We need a multi-purpose hub where we can invite and rent out the rooms for allied health practitioners as well as community events and programs,” she said.
The weatherboard house was constructed in the 1940s, and was used as a maternal and child health facility from the 1960s to 2016.
It has been vacant since 2016.
A community campaign last year by the then Victoria Street Neighbourhood Working Group successfully stopped an impending sale of the house.
Macedon Ranges council voted to return the building to the community to be transformed into a hub for residents.
