PLANS for a 60 room motel and restoration of the old St Pat’s Primary School hall have been revealed to the Post by local developers Steve Jones and Robert Rampton.
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The two men, along with fellow developer Frazer Roberts, are the trustees for the Verner Cartwright Unit Trust, also known as Cartwright Verner Pty Ltd.
They officially lodged their development application with Goulburn Mulwaree Council on the week ending September 26.
“Currently undertaking renovations to the old St Pat’s Hall to bring the building back to its former glory of 1913,” the two men said in a statement to the Post.
“Essentially the old hall will act as the reception area /function facility/restaurant for the new motel. Great care has been taken to restore the hall back to its original state. For instance, the original bricks are still produced by Bowral Bricks, and accordingly we defy you to try and distinguish between the new and the old. The tiles on the roof were thread-bare, and therefore warranted complete replacement. The tiles were imported from Spain in order to match the original colour and style.
The toilets have been removed from the front of the building, which were an add-on in the 1970s. All the windows will be restored, reglazed and painted so as not to detract from the authenticity of the building.
“We are also in the process of replacing all the rotten timbers on the first floor balcony, and in time will replace the cast-iron railings.
A number of areas had to be rerendered, and we had to call on a specialist to ensure all the formwork was accurately matched.”
The men also said that the 60 room motel would be built in the former playground area of the school site, and that all heritage aspects would remain the same.
“The sixty rooms will be spread over three separate buildings which will facilitate different styles and levels of accommodation facilities,” they state.
“These will include luxury motel units, studio apartments and spa rooms. Once again, we are endeavouring to maintain the integrity of the site by using the same bricks as those on the school hall and our architects have selected features of the old building in designing the frontage of the new motel.
“We plan to have the motel operational by 2016 and accordingly look forward to a number of challenges ahead.”
