Fort Queenscliff Museum’s tour guides are preparing to share 160 years of history, with the site ready to reopen to the public later this month.
“That’s what we’re there for,” says Evan Donohue, secretary of Fort Queenscliff Heritage Association. “The circumstances will be new to all of us so we will have to have a retraining session for the guides.”
The fort is an important part of Victorian history, according to Mr Donohue.
The site dates back to 1860 when British Imperial forces constructed an open battery.
The fort’s iconic walls are more than 130 years old and were built in a major redevelopment from 1882 to 1887.
The site opened to the public in 1998 for tours of its gun installations, underground magazines, heritage buildings, working lighthouse and museum.
COVID-19 halted these tours, like at so many other historic sites in Victoria.
But contractors, guides and army reservists alike have been busy repainting, reroofing and resurfacing the site during the closure, according to museum manager Major Martin Gowling.
“We certainly haven’t been idle,” he says.
“A lot of restoration work is going on while the public don’t have access to the museum.
“All our tour guides have been on JobKeeper but have been doing some work around the fort.
“We’re probably just over three quarters finished remodelling the museum and putting together new exhibits.”
Major Gowling is awaiting advice from the Department of Defence, the museum’s owner, and Victorian health authorities for a reopening date.
“The way things are going we hope to open by mid-November. At the worst case we’d want to be open before the next school holidays.”
