R&J’s Butchery shop founder Rex Spence said the South Otago Heritage Society had plans to add a neighbour to the traditional-style butchery shop by Milton Blokes Shed, and develop a park-style area with new facilities for local collections at Milton’s historic precinct behind Rugby Park.
Mr Spence said a large shed was in the pipeline to store and display the local vintage machinery club’s tractors, cars and other items.
The club, linked to the society and drawing members from Balclutha, Stirling and Kaitangata, would incorporate pieces from the now-closed JR Finch museum, he said.
"They’re putting in the money to build quite a big shed," Mr Spence said.
"With a lot of their collection ... coming down here to go with what these guys have already got."
Near the butchery and the Blokes Shed, the Milton Volunteer Fire Brigade was planning a new structure to serve as a small museum.
Vintage, horse-power farm machinery already on site will be placed decoratively around the grounds.
The Whale Fossil Lookout display is also relocating from Milburn’s Circle Hill, where a new pine plantation would soon shut down the view.
The fossils and accompanying information would be moved into their own building beside the historical precinct’s water tank.
The new facility was hoped to be larger than the original shed, to accommodate extra contributions from Otago University, which had expressed interest in the project, Mr Spence said.
Talks and planning continued, and although the new elements were not expected to be finished at the same time, roadworks contractors in Milton were delivering soil to form a carpark at the precinct and improve access.
The site began with a view to complementing the popular Otago Gold cycle trail and it was hoped a short detour would help visitors access Milton’s varied heritage, he said.
