While it will no longer be a fountain, the new design for the monument will see it lit up with orange and yellow petals encircling a series of metal stamens and feature plaques which tell the story of Nancy Blumer – one of Griffith’s pioneering women.

The restoration of the Neville Place memorial has been a long time coming, with scaffolding and its dilapidated appearance turning it into an eyesore for years.

The new-look structure will feature thousands of mosaic pieces, cleverly designed lighting and a granite base.

Mrs Blumer’s grandson, Grant Blumer, was pleased with the colour and lighting effects Griffith councillors had chosen at their last meeting.

“Ideally, we would have kept the water feature but that was highly improbable,” Mr Blumer said.

“I think the mosaic will work very well on the inside of the lotus petals and it will look more like a flower than it ever has before.

“It will certainly be more approachable than it has been with scaffolding around it – the good thing about its position is council staff see it every time they leave the building, so they can’t ignore it.”

Council principal planner Peter Badenhorst said the monument’s restoration was on track for completion by the end of the financial year.

Funding will not be a problem – the $140,000 council allocated to the project in last year’s budget has been carried forward.

“We hope the construction fencing will go up early next week and we will start getting quotes for the new design,” Mr Badenhorst said.

“We’re really keen to get this rolling and, if not for the floods, we would have started looking for quotes a week ago.”

The project will start with the removal of the pond wall around the outside of the monument.