Pyrenees Shire Council, Media Release, 18 November 2021

Avoca’s iconic War Memorial will be celebrated this week, following months of restoration work.

A ceremony on Thursday will unveil a new plaque to commemorate its centenary.

Built in 1921, the Avoca War Memorial was constructed by the local community to remember those who fought in the First World War. The memorial was later rededicated in 1988 to also commemorate soldiers who served in the Second World War.

In recent years, the Memorial had begun to show signs of disrepair and weather damage. In preparation for the 100-year anniversary, and to ensure its preservation for years to come, specialist heritage advice was sought and a restoration project devised.

The project, valued at close to $90,000 in total, was funded by the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 Victorian Government’s Restoring Community War Memorials and Avenues of Honour grants ($60,000 in total) as well as contributions from Council and the local community.

The first stage was completed in 2019/20 and included cleaning and treating the Memorial for algae, fungus, lichens and moss, followed by repairs to the parapets and drainage infrastructure as well as resealing of the roof to fix issues with damp. The surrounding garden was removed to address rising damp, while there were also repairs to the memorial lighting.

This year, the second phase of work was completed. This stage entailed repairing the render and repainting of the cenotaph as well as cleaning the granite plaques and repainting the embossed lettering.