Historic front doors of Old Parliament House sent to the restorers after December 2021 fire

They are "absolutely repairable", the director of the Museum of Australian Democracy announced as they were removed and taken away by conservators.

"They can be brought back to their former glory, so that is wonderful news," Daryl Karp said.

The doors, built in the 1920s from solid jarrah, are a part of Australian history. Kings and queens have passed through them. Politicians have met on the steps and no doubt plotted.

They have been the backdrop to speeches, most famously that of the dismissed prime minister Gough Whitlam who stood before them and vowed: "Well may we say God Save the Queen because nothing will save the governor-general."

After the fire of December 30, there were fears that the doors had been burnt to destruction but it now appears that they can be restored by experts in Sydney.

One of the matters to be considered is whether some burn marks should remain. The fire itself is now part of the history of the building which was the Australian parliament until its two assemblies moved up the hill in 1988.

It is a familiar debate within conservation circles: do you return a damaged building to some sort of pristine version or should it look worn and even partly damaged?

But that dilemma would not have been possible if the doors had been turned to charcoal.

"I feel absolute elation that the doors are able to be repaired but tinged with real sadness that somebody felt so strongly that they needed to set the doors alight," Ms Karp said.

"The conservators think that there's about 75 per cent of the doors that they are able to keep so there's a small layer that will need to be replaced."

The museum director is also delighted that the rubber flooring which really were the corridors of power can be retained. "That is wonderful news because they have witnessed so much in almost a hundred years of history."

READ MORE:

They are pre-Lino as a form of rubber. They have a slight bounce, and so a softness ideal for stealth. They have the authentic feel of a place for wheeling and dealing.

One of the boons is that a carved brass plaque bearing the British coat of arms on a door handle was found in the ashes.

Like the doors, it is part of history - literally touched by the great and the good (and, no doubt, the not-so-good). On May 9, 1927, the Duke of York who would become King George VI and the last Emperor of India turned the handle (or at least had someone to turn it for him).

The smoke from the fire permeated not only the vestibule but also the two chambers. It covered books inside the building.

"There are 900 Hansards," Ms Karp said. "Each needs to be wiped down and repaired."

The speaker's chair had soot on it, while some wooden objects, like the doors, had to dry out from the water of the fire extinguishers.

Insurance assessors estimated the total cost of restoration at around $4 million.

The museum director said earlier that she thought insurance would cover the bulk of the cost. The museum had, though, appealed to the public for funds.

In a letter to the museum's supporters, visitors and friends, Ms Karp said that repairs from the "deliberately lit" fire at its doors would take many months.

"The image of police and firefighters framed by the blackened entry is indelibly etched in my mind," she wrote in the letter.

"Though I am truly devastated at these events, it is now time to consider how to move forward, and how you - our wonderful supporters - might help."

One of the issues with the insurance coverage was the extra work that might be needed.

The whole of the front of the facade might have to be repainted, for example, so the same shade of white covered the whole frontage. It wasn't just a matter of repainting the blackened parts.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: