LAL LAL residents are on track in their bid to transform the town’s historic railway station into a bona fide tourist attraction.
Lal Lal Soldiers Memorial Hall president Engels Leoncini said 40 residents had expressed interest in the site’s restoration.
He said the disused station could be leased out to community groups and become an information centre or museum of local history.
Mr Leoncini said recent celebrations marking the station’s 150th anniversary
had been the catalyst for a possible refurbishment.
“We’ve lobbied VicTrack for years to clean it up,” he said.
“It was a bit derelict prior to the 150-year celebrations.”
Mr Leoncini said VicTrack, which owns the facility, would allow residents to inspect the station in a few weeks.
Interested residents will create a steering committee to discuss its future use.
Moorabool Council supports the concept but won’t commit funding at this stage. “There’s a strong desire from the community to follow this through,” West Moorabool ward’s Cr Tom Sullivan said.
Cr Sullivan and Mr Leoncini have consulted “pioneers” of the successful refurbishment of Creswick railway station.
Railway Workshop Association president Don Henderson said that after a few years of development, the Creswick project was almost complete and it had already hosted an international art show.
“It’s been a real success story for the town and for VicTrack,” he said.
“It’s gone from being a derelict building to the pride of the town. There’s a big interest in restored stations; we’ve attracted people from all over the country.”
A Public Transport Victoria spokesman said the future use of Lal Lal station was being considered, along with other disused railway stations between Geelong and Ballarat, as part of a ‘rail revival’ study being conducted by Public Transport Victoria.
“The study is examining the long-term feasibility of returning passenger trains between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo and is expected [to be complete] in 2013,” the spokesman said.
