Pennies well spent

By Kath Gannaway
THE historic men’s toilets at Healesville railway station are $35,000 closer to being restored to their original condition.
Seymour MP Ben Hardman announced a $35,000 grant to the Healesville Tourist Precinct (HTP) for restoration of the toilets as part of a $1m Heritage Victoria package.
Mr Hardman said the station, built in 1902, was historically significant to the region and to the state.
“It was originally built to carry visitors to the Yarra Valley during holidays and weekends and remains mostly intact today,” he said.
The men’s toilet with its snake style urinal and the women’s with the mother and child dual-seat toilets provide a behind-closed-doors peek into an important part of the day to day travel experience before dual, or even single-flush loos.
The toilets have been dismantled and the men’s have been partly restored under a program run in conjunction with Healesville High School.
Michael de Oleviera, president of the HTP, said the grant would enable the HTP to continue the work.
“It’s another piece in the precinct jigsaw,” he said.
“We will continue to chip away and will be looking for more funding to complete the ladies’ toilets as well,” he said.
Mr Hardman praised the work of community members and volunteers who he said had turned an area which had been seen as a negative for Healesville into a positive.