Next month will mark the 30 year anniversary of the generous contribution by the Late Stanley Stuart Payne as Trustee for the EA Green Charitable Foundation.
In August 1993, Stan Payne in association with the Diggers Rest Lions Club donated the funds to purchase the former Primary School site on the Old Calder Highway at Diggers Rest.
The reserve known today as the “Stan Payne Reserve” would have been sold to private developers and sub-divided if it wasn’t for the amazing foresight and support of Stan Payne.
Instead, the old school house was relocated within the reserve and refurbished, the land mostly developed for community use, which includes the home of the Bowls Club, Houdini Legacy Monuments, the Caroline Chisholm Gold Shelter and the JA Sanger Headstone.
The reserve has a colourful history dating back to 1875 and it’s understood that the first primary school was relocated to the site in 1888.
Some of the original ideas for the reserve in 1993 included the possibility of a special community housing project and retaining the site as a special heritage park.
According to the Stan Payne Reserve Master Plan, it’s anticipated that future works at the reserve will include the second bowls green and an extension to the bowls club house.