SIGNS are strong that the blacksmith on Whyte Street in Coleraine will be firing back up.

Anyone who has glanced at the old building recently will have thought they’d briefly travelled back in time – fresh paint on a 1910s style sign.

According to co-owner of the premises, John Kane, it’s signalled to the community that work is happening.

The smithy was built in 1888 and saved from demolition a hundred years later in the 1980s.

It was then bought by a community group who began restoring it, and then was onsold to a couple of local farmers who did further work.

“My great uncle was a blacksmith in Coleraine, he was a blacksmith from about 1890 to 1942,” Mr Kane said.

“He closed down after the second world war.

“I have always had an interest in blacksmithing never been able to do anything about it.”

He has been looking at the building for years, but now as a retired farmer he has “the time and interest to get it to the next stage”.

“We have got a planning permit to restump one of the entire walls … I have been in contact with a bricklayer who is going to fix up both forges and repair the chimney,” Mr Kane said.

Mr Kane bought out one of the owners and now he owns it alongside Warwick Brown.

Together they will be putting $13,500 toward its restoration, and have also received a grant from the shire council for a further $3500.

The front of the building has already been signwritten in a historically accurate style.

Mr Kane and Mr Brown went through old Coleraine Albion gazettes to research how the blacksmith used to advertise a hundred years ago.

That style has been replicated by a talented signwriter from Warrnambool.

The intention is to fix it up to be operational on a part-time basis with the ideal goal to run the place full-time, but first things first.

Notably, there is no intention to make profit from the venture either - Mr Kane said the redevelopment is fully for the sake of the community.

Unlike other restored smithies around Australia, there’ll be no run-of-the-mill make-your-own fire poker workshops.

Mr Kane and Mr Brown intend for old bits of steel, leftover farming equipment to be recreated into unique blacksmith art that echoes the heritage of the Coleraine region.

They also hope to have blacksmith courses on offer to meet an increasing ‘interest in the old crafts’ as modern Australia seeks to connect anew with its past.

“We need to get someone who is a great blacksmith and a teacher,” Mr Kane said.

“People will come from great distances for courses.”

Coleraine’s blacksmith is quite unique because the rebuilt forge will be in the original building, dated 1888.

Mr Kane has visited 10 other restored forges around Australia, and of them, only one other – in Anguston, SA, for those who are curious – was restored in the original location.

“When I started doing my homework on it I discovered it’s classified at the second-highest classification you can for an old building,” he said.

The building is registered as having statewide significance, only a step below National Trust classification.

As a heritage listed building, Mr Kane and Mr Brown have a good relationship with the local heritage advisor and are working closely with her on every step of the way.

The work on the blacksmith comes amidst a flurry of activity in Coleraine, with families having joined the town and new businesses opening up on the main street too.

Mr Kane, who is also on the committee for the Peter Francis Point Arboretum, is excited for the experiences Coleraine’s visitors and locals will be treated to.

“Coleraine is going along really well. We are getting a lot of new citizens and things are happening. It has got a good vibe about it.”