The Cordillo Downs Station woolshed looks like a giant index finger lying on a flat, almost endless plain in central Australia.

Key points: The owners of the the Cordillo Downs Station woolshed are using a crowdfunding campaign to part fund the restoration project

The owners of the the Cordillo Downs Station woolshed are using a crowdfunding campaign to part fund the restoration project The restoration will begin in June with about 30 tradespeople using traditional methods

The restoration will begin in June with about 30 tradespeople using traditional methods The shed is considered unique in Australia because of its extensive buttressing, curved roof, architectural design — and size

At 60 metres long, 13 metres wide and 136 years old, it is the biggest of its kind in the world and a reminder of when Australia's economy rode on the sheep's back.

Built in 1883, 160 kilometres north-east of Innamincka in South Australia, it once housed 120 stands to shear up to 85,000 sheep.

But it has faced an uncertain future.

The Cordillo Downs Station homestead in South Australia's far north-east is heritage listed and includes the famous woolshed. ( ABC North and West: Gary-Jon Lysaght )

When a freak storm ripped part of its roof off in 2017, questions swirled over whether the shed would once again be a pastoral icon or an abandoned ruin.

Now the public is being called upon to help guarantee Australian history lives on for future generations.

The wool from Cordillo Downs was transported by Afghan cameleers along the Strzelecki Track. ( Supplied: Janet Brook )

Crowdfunding the only way forward

Cordillo Downs Station manager Janet Brook said the total restoration cost was about $100,000 — and worth every cent.

"It was built 20 years after Burke and Wills passed nearby, which I think is a significant part of our history for the country," Ms Brook said.

"The wool industry in Australia really kicked off our country and this is just one interesting story."

Cordillo Downs Station began running sheep in the late 1800s, but switched to cattle midway through the 20th century. ( Supplied: Janet Brook )

Station owners, the Brook Pastoral Company, will contribute about $45,000 plus in-kind support to the restoration despite not using the shed for its operations.

The project receiving a $20,000 State Government heritage grant and other smaller grants, but a shortfall of about $30,000 remained.

The Brook family decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the remaining cash.

Cordillo Downs Station manager Janet Brook is determined to save the shed for future generations. ( ABC News: Gary-Jon Lysaght )

"We're hoping that people who are interested or who have seen the building can assist us with making up the difference," Ms Brook said.

"Immediately we had so many comments from people who had seen the shed and how unique it is."

The shed is considered unique in Australia due to its extensive buttressing, curved roof, architectural design, size and links to Australia's frontier pastoral history.

Home restoration job anything but normal

The restoration will see about 30 tradespeople travel to the shed to complete urgent works using traditional methods in June.

That means the station will have to feed and find toilets to service the extra guests on top of managing the renovations.

The Cordillo Downs Station woolshed once housed 120 stands to shear 85,000 sheep in central Australia. ( ABC North and West: Patrick Martin )

Heritage Stone Restoration Project Manager Mitch Cleghorn said it would be exciting to see the start of the shed's restoration.

"These places really tell a story about the way we lived in the landscape historically," Mr Cleghorn said.

"They can be conduits for knowledge and information, they're a way to interact with our past and they sort of have this unity and identity written into their very fabric."

Heritage conservation students will also journey to the shed to undertake further analysis.

A complex system of red tape

The Brook family said the project had been difficult to manage remotely, 1,100 kilometres from Adelaide.

"We're putting back what was there, but it was built before modern building codes," Ms Brook said.

"Although we're putting back what was there, that doesn't necessarily comply with new standards."

The shed's main entrance is held up by a handmade support following storm damage. ( ABC North and West: Gary-Jon Lysaght )

A Conservation Management Plan is required before major works can be undertaken on the building.

The document outlines why the building is considered historically significant and plan further restoration works based on need.

Any changes or alterations need to be addressed by an architect, and plans signed off by a private certifier.

Complicating things further, a statement of heritage value was never completed when the building was first registered in South Australia.