Picture: SANDRA MORELLO
GRANT District Council will temporarily warehouse unique exposed timber beams from the Mount Gambier Regional Airport terminal building.
While the building will be razed this week, these beams will be salvaged.
These engineered timber beams were produced at the former Scrimber processing plant that operated in the early 1990s in Mount Gambier.
It is understood these beams were a trial product made by the failed plant, which collapsed due to a lack of funding.
The State Government at that time poured millions of dollars into the plant that was located on Jubilee Highway East.
According to sources, these experimental beams were not used commercially other than the Mount Gambier terminal building.
“There has been a lot of community interest in this timber,” Grant District Council chief executive officer Darryl Whicker said.
The processing facility tested new technologies to utilise wood shavings.
According to reports, a staggering $60m was poured into the failed venture.
Suggestions have been made one of these beams could be gifted to the Umpherston Cave timber display for preservation of the region’s timber industry history.
