Have you seen the refurbished two-story verandah on the Broadway Museum? It looks great. With the help of the NSW Heritage Office who supported the project to the tune of $50,000, and dedicated local tradesman like Wayne Bond and Roy Woodall, the old Broadway Pub is likely to survive another 100 years.

A savage storm tore the verandah roof off in September 2003. It soon became evident that the whole verandah was in poor condition with major structural decay to the timber beams. Rotted timber ends, from years of weathering, made fine homes for birds to nest but left little structural support for the timber.

This job was not an easy one. First we had to find a supplier for the massive beams that needed replacing. Then all the floorboards had to be specially milled – they just don’t make them that size anymore. New cast iron panels were made to fit where there were some missing. The existing cast iron panels were taken away and sandblasted to remove 100 years of paint. And finally we had to find tradesman who had the skills, and wanted to do the work.

People where fascinated with the reconstruction effort of the verandah, as the jigsaw came down and went back up piece by piece. Issues like safety remained high on the agenda. Council even invited Workcover to the site to discuss how the job should be managed.

The entire project cost $135,000. The community has retained one of its heritage buildings for new purposes – a museum. The occupiers, Junee District Historical Society, can see plenty of use for the new first floor verandah and are looking forward to sharing those experiences with the community.