MOVING AHEAD: Rotary Club of Orange president Mick Doyle and the Narrambla Homestead.
THE cottage thought to be the birthplace of Banjo Paterson could be relocated to the Adventure Playground as early as February next year.
Rotary Club of Orange president Mick Doyle said the Narrambla Homestead Restoration Project team were continuing to work with Orange City Council to finalise preparations before Emmaville Cottage is moved.
In the meantime the team will hold a display at the north Orange shopping centre on Saturday to show information and stories about the Narrambla Estate’s history.
Mr Doyle said it was an opportunity for people to consider the facts and familiy stories and see if they agree that the original homestead was at the cottage’s Warratah site.
“We’re gradually putting pieces of the jigsaw together,” he said.
“I personally don’t think we’ll ever know where Banjo Paterson was born but what we’re trying to identify is where the Narrambla Homestead was.
“We know he was born in the proximity.”
Mr Doyle hopes the team will be able to begin to get their hands dirty at their meeting next month starting with dissembling the cottage’s chimney, removing bees and cleaning up the site.
An addition to the cottage will then be removed before a professional building hauler moves the cottage to its new home.
While the council will pay for the ongoing maintenance of the cottage Rotary still has some way to go to attract the $40,000 to $50,000 in sponsorship needed to fund the relocation.
Members of Rotary and the Orange Historical Society will also be on hand at Saturday’s display to speak about the project and gather more stories about local families associated with the property.
“It’s wonderful factual information we have but hopefully through family stories we’ll get more pieces to indicate what was here,” he said.
“It adds personality.”
The display will be held at the north Orange shopping centre on Saturday from 9am to noon.