Society president Neil Gamble said the building’s interior had already been repainted.
However, the exterior of the about 135sq m building, with its high walls, and occasionally leaky roof, had not been repainted for "20 or 30 years".
"It’s absolutely the most important project we’ve had for the last 10 years or so," Mr Gamble said.
And, given the building’s "tatty" appearance, and the need to replace the corrugated iron roof, the extensive fundraising and the upgrading project itself were priorities," Mr Gamble said.
"It’s one that we really have to get on with," he said.
The building’s wooden exterior is in generally sound condition, but had to be repainted, with some small areas of rot replaced in the about 9m-high walls, to maintain the historically important building adequately.
The building also had a wider strategic significance, because it was the first building visitors to the Taieri Heritage Park saw when they visited that Outram facility, Mr Gamble said.
Mr Gamble (72) said he had received some of his own early education in that building and the society was well aware of its significance as one of the area’s historical treasures. The society will take the first step in its fundraising journey when it holds a market day on Sunday, April 2, from 10am to 2pm.
That first step could take up to two years to complete.
The society had been in existence for about 46 years. It had succeeded in protecting a great deal of Taieri heritage material, including key buildings, since it began operating. The historic courthouse and jail buildings were among the first structures to be safeguarded by being shifted to the park in the 1970s, and the school building and the Berwick Church had been shifted there in the 1990s.
Society committee member Margaret van Zyl is helping to organise the market day.
She said urgent steps were needed to safeguard the building’s run-down exterior.
"It’s one of the focal points of our collection of buildings at the park," Mrs van Zyl said.
The society’s nine-strong committee was pressing ahead with meeting the challenge, and they were fully aware of the size of the task ahead.
"We’re not daunted.
"We’ve tackled big projects and we’ve quietly worked our way to a successful outcome.
"We really can’t let the school stand as it is for much longer because every day is another nail in its coffin."
- Taieri Times
