The engineer driving the renovation of Dubbo’s iconic clock tower is inviting people and businesses to become involved with the project.
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Jillian Kilby has taken on ownership of the Dubbo Telephone Exchange with plans to bring the heritage building back to life.
As she shared her vision for the landmark in the main street, Ms Kilby encouraged people to think about “opportunities to make this renovation happen”.
The 2018 Agrifutures NSW/ ACT Rural Woman of the Year is setting about transforming the building into another home for The Exchange, a new community of start-up businesses at Dubbo.
Ms Kilby said “no shortcuts” would be taken with the renovation, and made the case for “quality workmanship and strategic preservation” to come first.
The civil engineer who founded her own business said the lower the cost for the refurbishment, the more they could do “as a building by providing that co-working space”.
Ms Kilby encouraged anyone who wanted to be involved in the project to let her know.
“What are the opportunities to make this renovation happen, who are we partnering with…,” she said.
“We’re refurbishing an icon for community benefit.
“So if you have ideas for how we collaborate and make this happen, we’re all ears.”
Dubbo-based Ms Kilby had 12 months of talks with Telstra before the company finalised the sale of the property to her, announced on November 9.
The new owner, who “feel(s) like the custodian of a piece of our heritage”, reported of being inundated with positive feedback on social media.
“Hundreds of comments from people who are just so excited that we will be giving it a new lease on life and will be doing a very thorough job of the renovations,” Ms Kilby said.
People with photos or a story about the building are invited to send them to Ms Kilby.
“We want to really celebrate the history,” she said.
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Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
