Warrnambool's earliest pioneers have been given a professional makeover during a nine-month restoration of the honour board in Melbourne.
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The 111-year-old board, featuring 204 of the city's earliest pioneers, was removed from its frame in May last year and taken to Melbourne for repair.
Every photo was removed, cleaned and repaired and then digitally scanned, Warrnambool and District Historical Society president Janet MacDonald.
"It's done wonders for the photos that were there," Ms MacDonald said. "It's certainly looking better and brighter than ever."
Once the original photos were repaired, the decision was made to not return them to the board.
The have been individually archived at Warrnambool's history house while copies have been mounted on the board in their place.
"That was a bit of an agonising decision as to whether we do that," Ms MacDonald said.
She said the scans of the photos had brought out much of the detail that had faded from the originals.
"A lot of the original portraits had almost faded completely," she said. "We came close to losing a couple of them."
The new-look board has returned from the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at Melbourne University and is now back on display at History House.
The board will be officially unveiled on Friday at 5pm.
A book which details the story of the board and the faces on it is expected to be released next year.
The restoration as made possible through a campaign to raise $60,000 with most of the money coming from philanthropic trusts as well as their adopt-a-pioneer initiative.
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