Heritage Grant 

(The following extracts are from the Heritage Council's Heritage Matters Publication)

            Heritage Minister Francis Logan, Mundaring Weir Hotel owner Jens Jorgensen and Heritage Council Director Ian Baxter at the announcement of the grant for the Hotel.

Jens Jorgensen presenting the Heritage Minister with a 2006 calendar from the Mundaring Districts Historical society

One of the State's historic watering holes, the Mundaring Weir Hotel, will be conserved with the help of a $95,300 State Government Grant.

The Hotel is one of 29 heritage properties around the State to share in $1 million in grants to assist with conservation works and planning.

Announcing the grant for the Mundaring Weir Hotel, Heritage Minister Francis Logan said the owner of the hotel, Jens Jorgensen, would receive $95,300 to re-sheet the hotel's roof and repair roofing timbers, gutters and downpipes.

"Grants will provide vital assistance to private owners undertaking conservation works and planning, including repairing stonework, improving drainage and stabilising sites." Mr Logan said.

"They will ensure the survival of many of our important heritage landmarks, like the Mundaring Weir Hotel."

The Mundaring Weir Hotel was built in 1898 for workers constructing the Mundaring Weir dam wall.  The hotel provided the only legal supply of liquor to the large group of workers who previously had to rely on 'sly grog shops'.

It was also used as an office by C Y O'Connor when he visited to inspect the weir work.

Originally known as the Reservoir Hotel, the single-storey weatherboard hotel was the only substantial building in the area.  However, as the tourist trade picked up, owner Fred Jacoby built a new double-storey, brick and iron section in 1906.  This forms the front of the hotel today.

It has since been used as a canvas for internationally acclaimed painter Frank Pash and a stage for renowned David Helfgott.

Mundaring Weir Hotel owner Jens Jorgensen said the grant had come at just the right time.

"It can be quite expensive maintaining a place like this - so this grant, which we will use to repair the roof - will enable us to continue to preserve the structure," Mr Jorgensen said.

"This place has been a centre of activity for people coming up to the hills so it's important that we maintain the building and provide good facilities, so it can continue to be a centre of activity.

"Since becoming the owner of the hotel 21 years ago, this place has become a passion, it gives me a special feeling."

Mr Jorgensen told the story of how a performer at the hotel brought along a pianist friend one evening.  The pianist was David Helfgott who became a regular at the Mundaring Weir Hotel.  

Mr Jorgensen also presented Heritage Minister Francis Logan with a 2006 calendar from the Mundaring Districts Historical Society, which features the hotel on the front cover.