Many of the conditions Orange City Council has imposed in exchange for demolishing most of the building previously home to Myer involve preserving the front facade and a second one along Post Office Lane. 

The changes will undo the alterations carried out between the 1960s and 1980s and restore some of the decadence lost in the intervening years.

Eight Victorian period-style urns will return to the top of the parapet, topping eight pilasters, or columns, reinstated above the suspended awning.

READ MORE: Approval allows construction to start

READ ALSO: Former Myer building faces ‘unreasonably high risk of building collapse’

The two elements, in addition to decorative features on the columns, will be required to replicate a historical photograph of the building from 1928.

Heritage enthusiast Euan Greer made submissions on the restoration and said the decorative details were vital, given without the Dalton influence, Byng Street could have remained Orange’s main street.

So successful was the business, Mr Greer said others moved to be closer to it. 

“[The Daltons] were very proud of what they had achieved and were prepared to show it,” he said.

“They were trying to give the impression to the people of Orange and surrounding areas that, ‘we are a prosperous business, we are here for the long term and we’ve got money’.”

The central arch of the facade, added in 1895 to join two older buildings, will be uncovered and required to function as a proper window, with the six arched windows on the 1968 building to the left on the first floor and seven double-hung windows on the 1873 building to the right also reinstated. 

Mr Greet said the changes to the arch were an attempt to modernise the building at the time. 

“Heritage wasn’t appreciated the way it is today – there’s been a change in the way people look at old buildings,” he said.

“That will be a main feature of the central mall inside the development, it will bring wonderful light.”

Even the painted Dalton Brothers sign, previously painted on the Post Office Lane side of the building, will be re-created. 

Mr Greer said combined with Orange Post Office and Orange Arcade, the stretch of Summer Street would look “absolutely fantastic”. 

Receive our free newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up here