Growing support for ambitious museum project as two big milestones draw near
The team behind plans for a world-class museum in Wollongong are hoping two significant historic milestones in the next three years will provide the impetus to get the project well underway
The team behind plans for a world-class museum in Wollongong are hoping two significant historic milestones in the next three years will provide the impetus to get the project well underway.
At a recent public information session at BlueScope Port Kembla’s visitors centre, project leader Franca Facci said the centenary of steelmaking at Port Kembla in 2028 provided a golden opportunity to leverage plans for the Museum of People, Country and Industry (MPCI), which it’s hoped will be established on surplus BlueScope land currently subject to a big master planning exercise.
The year 2027 (12 September to be exact) will also mark 80 years since our Local Government Area was created and called The City of Greater Wollongong.
Franca Facci told a crowd of about 70 people who turned up to learn more about the ambitious plan “this is a big vision, to create something special without demolishing our built heritage. We could create a museum inside one of those huge, cavernous warehouse like buildings on the BlueScope site.
“This is to be a Museum of People (who we are), Country (where we are) and Industry (what we make). Just see what’s been done to transform industrial sites like White’s Bay and Cockatoo Island in Sydney.
“Our vision is a place for stories to be told through music and song, art and imagination. They will be the stories that forged the nation.”
David Bottin, historian and creator of the popular Lost Wollongong Facebook site, is a big supporter of the museum project and he believes there’s a growing hunger to learn more about our past.
When David established Lost Wollongong in 2013 to showcase the city and our region’s history he was blown away when, in the first week, he amassed 1,000 followers.
Museum will take over Lost Wollongong site
Lost Wollongong now has nearly 70,000 followers.
“People have a real thirst to learn about the history of Wollongong," David says. "We are adding thousands of new members every year.”
David believes a modern museum telling the unique story of the Illawarra is long overdue.
“One of the problems in the Illawarra is we have lots of small museums, all run by volunteers who are getting older, and they’re all being run on the smell of an oily rag.
“The need for the Illawarra to have a professionally run museum has been obvious for a long time, and the catalyst for our project has been the BlueScope land redevelopment. We’ve got an opportunity now to work on this together with them to capture the different aspects of our history. Right now we have the opportunity to create a brand new facility that’s properly resourced, and it’s an opportunity we will never have again. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
David says when the time is right he will hand over his Lost Wollongong Facebook site to the museum. “It will be the perfect way to continue Lost Wollongong but under the brand of the Museum of People, Country and Industry.”
Museum project lead Franca Facci says the museum will tell the stories that forged the nation
Huge tourism potential
David described the tourism potential of the proposed museum as “huge.”
“As we are transitioning into a cruise ship hub, these people who visit in their thousands, coming off the cruise ships, will want to see what this place Illawarra is all about. Being at Port Kembla we will be ideally placed for people to visit, and those coming here not on cruise ships will have a new destination to see and hopefully they’ll stay an extra night.”
Following the public briefing, there was a sense of excitement by those who attended.
Communications expert Vivien Twyford is keen to support the project. “I’m very much involved in the Mount Kembla Mining Museum. We have wonderful items which are currently in storage. We are waiting to find the right place to give them a permanent home and this sounds perfect.”
L to R: Chris Lacey says it’s important for First Nations and migrant stories to be told; Viviene Twyford says “this sounds perfect”; and former Steelers boss Bob Millward is calling on all politicians to back the museum project
Footy legend says everyone should back the project
Former Illawarra Steelers boss Bob Millward described the museum plans as “a great initiative. This region should be proud of so many things in sport, not just rugby league. As a region we’re as good as any in the nation.
“We’ve always punched above our weight. Every local, state and federal politician should get behind this. I certainly will be.”
Now aged 88, the local league legend hopes he will live long enough to see the museum opened.
“I might not be around to see it finished because of my age, but this is too important for our city and region not to go ahead,” Bob added.
Chris Lacey, who heads the Multicultural Communities Council of the Illawarra (MCCI) is excited the museum will tell the region’s compelling migrant stories.
“Telling our Indigenous story is also so important,” Chris said. “It must be authentic and involve the local community and Elders as part of the process.”
L to R: Planning consultant David Laing has joined the project team; Kerrie Anne Christian says visitors will want to talk to locals about the region’s history; Luke Pickering is pleased the region’s remarkable mining history could be seen in one place.
A great new destination
Town planning consultant David Laing was so impressed with the museum’s vision he immediately offered his expertise to help move the project forward.
“I’m passionate and very keen about the project and our region badly needs something like this,” David said. “People travel the world to visit places like this. It will give Wollongong and the region a point of difference, a great new destination for visitors.”
Kerrie Anne Christian is president and curator of the Bulli Black Diamong Heritage Centre and travels the world visiting museums. She likened the planned Museum of People, Country and Industry to the EPIC Museum in Dublin, the Irish Migration Museum.
“I see digital immersion as important but visitors to museums also want to talk to people about the history and to look at objects,” Kerrie Anne said.
Mining engineer Luke Pickering is a member of the AusIMM Heritage Committee and he’s excited that the big story of this region’s mining history can be told in one place. Luke said the many highlights include Kemira Colliery, at 134 years, the longest continuous operating coal mine in Australia, and Nebo, the first mechanised colliery in the nation.
The next step in the museum project will see the merger of the MPCI with the long-standing Migrant Heritage Project, expected to take place early next year. Anyone wanting to support the museum project can sign on (cost $25) as a member on the Migrant Heritage Project website.
