The moat around one of Canberra's unique structures is close to springing a leak, putting a priceless archive of science and architectural material and the very foundations of the building at risk.
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The Shine Dome, home to the Australian Academy of Science, has received a $64,000 community heritage grant from the federal government to help protect its basement archive by resealing the moat that surrounds the 1959 building.
The moat, most recently known for its newly-installed ramps for ducks and ducklings, was last waterproofed seven years ago with a membrane designed to last about five years.
Facilities manager Peter Geerdink said the membrane was peeling, and had become worse over the past six months.
''If the moat was to start to leak, the water could seep into the basement, which would get into our archive area,'' he said. ''There could be potential issues for structural damage in that as well.''
The moat will be drained and sandblasted, before being resurfaced with a new 20-year waterproof membrane over a six- to eight-week period in summer.
Mr Geerdink said the overall cost of the project would be about $115,000.
Two other grants were awarded in the region through the Community Heritage Grants program, which is run by the National Library to help community organisations preserve significant collections of materials.
The Oral History Project in the Hall District received $3500 to interview older residents of the district to discover stories of early community life.
And $16,000 was granted to the RAAF Memorial Grove Rond Point Finalisation for the installation of interpretative panels describing the historical links between the ACT and early RAAF operations.
