IT was a typical Bathurst mid-winter's day when the city's $200 million hospital redevelopment was announced back in 2022.
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Photos show the assembled dignitaries - particularly those from out of town - wearing warm, sensible clothes as they gathered out the front of the heritage building to celebrate the big news.
"I'm very excited about this," Dr Pav Phanindra said during one of the shortest speeches of the media conference - but also one of the most heartfelt.
Fast forward 18 months or so and the $200m project that was born during the cold is now starting to heat up.
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole's criticism this week of the short notice for a fresh set of community information sessions was the latest publicly expressed concern, but there have been little spot fires about this project for a while now.
Will there be anywhere near enough car parking to cater for the expansion? Will it be possible to find the extra staff?
The projected start of construction has changed once already and there has been the spectre of the last, Keystone Cops-esque redevelopment of the hospital hanging over the whole proposal.
Of course, some change from the rough timeline given back at the redevelopment announcement was always to be expected when it comes to a project of this scale.
High community expectations are also to be anticipated, as well as a forensic level of scrutiny from our state MP, who has deftly changed his political tactics since making the switch from government to opposition in March last year.
No longer constrained by political leadership, he is now free to criticise government decisions, rather than defend them.
With work due to get started in 2025 and the new hospital to open in 2027, though, it's time for the last creases to be ironed out of this project and for the community to get a clear idea of how everything will play out from here.
The labyrinthine health department has had years to do the lead-up work for this $200m big build - both before the official announcement and after - and the people of Bathurst will, no doubt, be keen to see how that time has been used.
Promising something special - something that will serve this city for years and years to come - is the easy part.
The more difficult part is delivering. And that's when we're going to see whether we get our $200m worth or not.
