Construction of new flight aviary and workshop at the Hamilton Botanic Gardens will commence in the coming month after a tender was awarded at Council’s December meeting.
McArthur Engineering were the successful tenderer for the project with a bid of $231,000. The project will see a new aviary built, meeting all best practice guidelines in relation to care for caged birds. The aviary project was identified as a priority in the Hamilton Botanic Gardens Masterplan, adopted in 2015.
The project also includes the construction of a new workshop and a new fully accessible toilet, improving amenity for all users of the gardens particularly families utilising the playground and BBQ areas.
Funding of $100,000 for the new aviary was donated to the friends of the Botanic Gardens by Geoff Handbury OAM, with the remainder to be funded by Council.
Council staff have worked closely with Heritage Victoria throughout the redesign process to ensure all necessary heritage requirements have been met.
Council Project Manager Jason Newton explained that residents will start to see work happening at the Gardens in the coming weeks.
“We’ve installed safety fencing this week, with demolition of the existing aviary and workshop to commence in the week following Australia Day. Once demolition is complete and the site has been cleared, the construction can commence.
“All going well, we anticipate that the new aviary will be complete and open to the public in May 2019. We are very pleased to see this project finally commencing and we thank the community, Friends of the Botanic Gardens and our generous supporters for their patience and ongoing support throughout the planning stages of this project,” Mr Newton said.
The Hamilton Botanic Gardens masterplan aims to guide the development of the gardens over the next ten years, providing a structure for future works and management. The plan builds on the historic gardens, maintaining their heritage significance and well-loved features, while outlining new works to further enhance the gardens.
Works already completed this year from the masterplan include the refurbishment of the heritage gates at the Skene Street and the French and Kennedy Street entrances, while the restoration of the Thomson fountain will commence in the first half of 2019.