Loco Shed Echuca Inc president Dick Phillips is spearheading the open day that aims to garner interest in the site. Photos: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Echuca’s old locomotive shed is one of the region’s landmark buildings, yet very few people know what’s happening inside its walls.
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However, on Sunday, July 21, between 9 am and 1pm, its doors will be open to the Echuca-Moama community when Loco Shed Echuca Inc stages an open day. People can come and see the historic site and learn about its history and future.
LSEI president Dick Phillips says the plans for the shed are ambitious and exciting and will need community support to help them get it over the line.
They include turning the shed into a ‘living museum’, which will also become a community asset.
“We want to embrace the shed’s history; it was constructed in 1860 when the Victorian Railways built the first line from Melbourne to reach the Murray,” Mr Phillips said.
“The railways then built the port to help make Echuca the vibrant hub it would become through river trade and its access to the capital.
“It is at the very heart of our local history.
“I think everyone in Echuca-Moama knows the shed, and you can’t help but see it as one of the most spectacular buildings we have, so we need to ensure its future.”
Mr Phillips said that when you look at Echuca and Moama, neither community has a town hall or a similar public space, which is the ideal alternative.
LSEI plans to turn the inside of the loco shed into a function centre and museum in the future.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
He said LSEI now owns both the land and building — Campaspe Shire Council sold it the land three years ago — and as it is heritage-listed, they will be working with Heritage Victoria moving forward.
The long-term strategy is to build a café on the Sturt St side of the loco shed as an entry point and give it some commercial activity.
LSEI will also install a commercial kitchen and facilities inside the shed to be utilised as a function centre and a museum.
“One of the things we are planning is a light show – but unlike Swan Hill’s Pioneer Museum or Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill – ours will be indoors so that you can see it during the day and after dark,” Mr Phillips said.
“We anticipate that it will also include a hologram of a steam train arriving, so we think it will be pretty spectacular.
“We believe this project will breathe new life into the tourism potential of the twin towns, and by planning for it to be a multi-use complex, it will be something everyone can use.
“In recent years, it has hosted a wedding or two and been used for photo shoots and videos, but we want it to be something of which the whole community can be proud and something in which we will all have a stake.”
LSEI will apply for as much as $10 million in funding to turn the vision into a reality, and the more people who join the project, the better its chances of success.
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