Federal Government Grant Ensures Continued Conservation of Heritage Site

A six person team will departed Hobart late this year and spend up to six weeks at the historic site. It will be the 16^th expedition organised by the Mawson’s Huts Foundation which submitted its grant application last year.

“We’re very excited being able to resume an extensive conservation programme which will include major work on the fragile Transit Hut, used by Mawson’s 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition to take star sightings and determine its exact position,” said Foundation chairman David Jensen AM.

“The Foundation will be making a significant contribution to the overall cost of the expedition from revenue generated by the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum in Hobart which has already funded several small teams to the East Antarctica site,” he said.

Expedition Manager Rob Easther is already preparing a works programme in consultation with the AAD. “I’ve also started to select team members in preparation for a December departure and I am in discussion with the French Antarctic programme regarding transport for the voyage south.”

“We had to postpone an expedition last summer for urgent work on the Transit Hut and now next summers programme will allow that work to proceed. The team of heritage specialists will carry out other essential work including the installation of an automatic weather station to monitor the changing climatic impacts on the historic site. Works will also include further removal of ice from Mawson’s Huts and improvement to access to the huts,” said Rob.

The grant to the Foundation is part of a $5.3 million Federal Government national programme for heritage sites.