Melbourne's pigeons have lost their grand digs at Flinders Street Station as builders evict them from the iconic copper domes to clean up 100 years of poo.
The birds have been given the flick as part of a $100 million restoration of the decaying icon, which has turned into a pigeon paradise.
Passers-by will get their first glimpse at the restored facade in its original 1910 colours on Thursday as builders begin to remove some of the scaffolding that has been hiding the building over the past year.
The previous mustard colour has been replaced by a lighter shade of stone and the maroon and green sections have been darkened to the original terracotta shade.
"The scaffolding removal will start around the clocks on top of the stairs and by Christmas it will be removed along Flinders Street," Transport Minister Jacinta Allen told reporters on Wednesday.
Builders have also replaced 3.5 tonnes of crumbling mortar and waterproofed the roof.
The repainting and facade upgrade will be complete by mid-2018.
"It's been a painstaking process," Graeme Kaye from Development Victoria told reporters on Wednesday.
"The colours that you see here are an exact representation - or as close as we can get - to when the station opened 100 years ago.
"And we had a problem with pigeons. All the domes along the roof have had pigeons residing in there over the last 100 years and they do what they do."
The historic clock has also been taken away for restoration, including new glass, after a century of neglect and storm damage and it will be back in its tower by Christmas.
A business case is also being developed to fix the old ballroom, and other decaying areas, to open them up to possible public spaces and commercial tenants.
