A PIECE of Canberra history lives again, now that the remains of one of the region’s old wooden slab huts have been rescued from a shipping container and made into a new interactive display.
But now, parts of the hut have been used to build the new “Gudgenby in a box” display, described as an “interpretive shelter” by ACT Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell, who unveiled the project today.
Its earthen walls mimic a popular construction method used by local settlers, but also have a modern touch with “QR codes” embedded in them. Scanning the codes on a smart phone reveals the exact locations of other pre-1913 buildings on Google maps.
Rangers used traditional methods to build a facade from the original slabs and frames of the hut.
“The salvaged materials of the early hut have not only have been reconstructed, but made into a learning experience through interpretive panels and oral histories that evoke the lives and stories of early settlers,” Mr Corbell explained.
The “Gudgenby in a box” is located a short walk from the Namadgi Visitors Centre.
