Commemorative paving project
September 02, 2025
It’s not every day that a fundraising concept turns into an opportunity to care for our history and honour our supporters, but that was the case back in 2010 – with a resurgence of the initiative in the works.
As part of Cottage by the Sea’s 120th birthday celebrations in 2010, we unveiled a commemorative paving project to help honour our rich history, thank our supporters and support our children’s charity for decades to come.
The history behind the pavers
The commemorative paving memorial project was an opportunity for donors to create a permanent record of their support for Cottage that can be seen and appreciated for many years to come.
“It was a fundraising idea initially, because we’d just acquired a new flagpole. The idea was to pave with memorial bricks that people could buy,” explains Tony Featherston. Tony was Cottage by the Sea’s General Manager in 2010, who now works part time in the Gift in Wills space.
The benefits of the paving project included promoting community awareness and providing an opportunity to formally recognise our donors for their generosity, support and involvement with Cottage by the Sea.
As part of the 120th birthday celebrations, we laid 2,000 limited-edition engraved or hand-drawn pavers around Cottage’s flagpole, located on our front lawn. The flagpole has always held historical significance and was featured in the grounds of the original timber Cottage that opened in 1895. The flagpole location has been an assembly point for children attending our programs, and they have enjoyed reading the pavers and looking at the drawings over the years.
Care & respect for history
In August 2025, during a corporate working bee with our partners ABN Group, the bricks made a resurgence as part of a relocation project. The volunteers moved the historical bricks to prepare them for their new home in an updated roundabout once the Riptide redevelopment is complete.
“The project began during our 120th birthday celebrations, back in 2010, and now it's being honoured again in 2025 at 135 years,” Tony explains. We look forward to rehoming these valued commemorative pavers as a form of care and respect for our history, while acknowledging the generosity of our donors and their support of Cottage by the Sea.
