Bendigo’s iconic Alexandra Fountain will undergo a $350,000 facelift to ward off old age, the City of Greater Bendigo has announced.
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Work on the 136-year-old Charing Cross water feature will begin next week, with restoration planned for its balustrade, statues and masonry.
Significant plumbing and electrical upgrades will also take place.
The city’s presentation and assets director, Craig Lloyd, said the Alexandra Fountain was an important part of the city’s history and future.
“The last major work undertaken on the fountain was in 2010 so it really is time to give this important icon a new lease of life,” Mr Lloyd said.
Local government has long been a financial backer of the fountain.
The Sandhurst City Council, the predecessor of today’s City of Greater Bendigo, pitched in £700 in the 19th century.
The fountain, a design of local visionary William Vahland, was also funded by proceeds from the Bendigo Juvenile Industrial Exhibition and a £500 gift from local mining magnate and philanthropist George Lansell.
It was named in honour of Princess Alexandra, the then-Princess of Wales, and is considered the second largest municipal fountain in Victoria.
Works are expected to finish later this year.
Mark Kearney
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
Journalist. Traveller. Pop culture connoisseur. Mark is passionate about education, the arts and social justice, especially stories affecting the LGBTI community.
