Sad day for Winton

Indeed. It was a magnificent place and will be a big blow for all us travellers as well as the locals
CJ

No they don't deserve this.
Hopefully they will be able to rebuild and start the hard slog of getting the memorabillia together again.
Good luck Winton
PeterM Qld

That's bad news for our history. Hope something can be done to rebuild. Unfortunately many valuable and one-off items will have been destroyed..

Sad day for Winton..

We were there last year, it was a great resource for tourists and the locals. Just another blow for them up there. We hope that there is an appropriate response from various levels of government to re-instate as much as is possible of this great facility.

Just saw this on the morning news in WA.

What a wonderful monument to our National Identity this was.

Huge, huge amounts of irreplaceable history has been destroyed. Such a blow, not only to Winton but all of Australia.

Given the tenacity of the Outback, I am sue they won't lay down with out a fight.

Our thoughts are with you

Cheers

Anthony and family

Thanks for posting this, Slow.

A devasting day for Winton, and the district! The Waltzing Matilda Centre was more than just a building to celebrate our national song.

It housed a Information Centre for travellers needing bookings, information and even reassurance about travel plans. There was a Westpac sub-branch helping to keep one and all cashed up, and local businesses to store their takings. A Gift shop with usual souvenirs, clothing and books about the district.

The Coolibah Cafe has been run by Amanda, and her staff for 17 years, producing excellent meals, snacks and pastries for local and tourist customers. The Gallery always had an interesting display of art, sculpture and photos, to view and purchase. There was a large amount of historic records of the local stations that seems to have been lost.

A number of dedicated locals spent many weeks preparing and researching a World War 1 display, prior to Anzac Day 2015, that commemorated the many local blokes who enlisted for the Great War. While they might have electronic records of this display, the display itself would have been destroyed.

As well as the loss of this icon, at least a dozen staff would now be unemployed in the short term. No doubt some effort will be put into opening a temporary information centre and possibly a Westpac facility.









On a somewhat brighter note, the Vision Splendid Film Festival is still going ahead. The Festival runs from 26/06/15 - 04/07/15, and features many Aussie films like Mad Max series, including Mad Maz 4, Last Cab to Darwin, with Michael Caton and many more that I can't find just now. :-)

The daytime screenings were to be in the McPherson Threatre at the Centre, but as that's no longer possible, another venue will be organised. Night time screenings will be in the Royal Threatre, an event not to be missed.

So please stop in Winton! Cheapest fuel in the Central West, meals available at all 4 pubs, and good coffee at Balamara Bakery and the coffee shop attached to the North Gregory Pub.Winton residents are a tough lot, but they'll still need some assistance to recover from this tragedy.

Thanks,
Bob & Linda (only been in the district 26 years)

It's a huge loss but there are plenty of other things to do and see in and around Winton. The greatest thing Winton has going for it is its location at the junction of tourist highways and its participation in the Dinosaur industry. And the legendary water hole is "just up the road", as they say. Haven't made it to the water hole yet but it is on the agenda for next trip.

Let's hope the Waltzing Matilda Center was insured.

Cheers,

Kevin

Ah so sad for the Winton Community.

We are planning to stop for a night or two in September, on our way from Boulia to Longreach, etc. I'm sure we'll still find plenty to occupy our time there.

Temporary Waltzing Matilda Center has opened a few doors away from old one.

PeterH