CURATOR Samantha Friend was briefly emotional as she spoke at the opening of the Bathurst District Historical Society Museum's makeover on Friday.
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There was less emotion, though, for the museum's old blue paint, which was highlighted by more than one person as a reason the makeover had to happen.
"Here we are, in this lovely, new, fresh interior, looking and feeling very smart," Ms Friend told a big group of supporters who crowded up the back of the museum to have a look at the work that has been completed.
"And the society's important, significant collection deserves nothing less.
"For so long, we've been looking at that blue paint and that terrible tatty carpet. I didn't think this day would come."
The work - a fresh coat of paint, new carpet and improved window tinting - was made possible by $100,000 in funding from the NSW Government's Stronger Country Communities Fund.
The society's important collection deserves nothing less.
The funding was announced in November last year.
Mr Toole said the museum was well-overdue for some work.
"The interior of the museum, in particular its flooring and paintwork, had fallen into a state of disrepair," he said.
"The museum was fitted out in the 1980s and has had very little work done since then.
"The carpet was worn and posed a danger to volunteers and visitors, especially on the stairs, while the windows needed retinting to a museum standard to protect artefacts from UV light."
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Mr Toole said the difference after the makeover was obvious.
"You walk in today and it's open, it's bright," he said. "Can you imagine when school groups and visitors come through here as well?"
Ms Friend said the historical society received a lot of support from Bathurst Regional Council.
"They applied for this grant on our behalf and have been the project managers for us," she said.
Ms Friend said the volunteers had put in countless hours of work to ensure the makeover went smoothly - from packing up items into boxes and moving them out of the way of the painters to shifting furniture to cleaning and polishing surfaces once the work was done.
The museum was closed for a month while the makeover was completed.