Community says no to Powerhouse sale

Community says no to Powerhouse sale
Image: Saturday's Rally

By Georgia Fullerton

 

Concerned politicians and residents rallied last week at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum to protest plans to move the museum to Western Sydney.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Federal MP Tanya Plibersek were speakers at the rally on May 30, and condemned the plan, saying the museum is a vital part of Sydney’s cultural heritage.

At the rally, The Lord Mayor said the City of Sydney opposes the closure and sale of the museum.

“We have passed a resolution to that effect, but we also support the expansion of cultural facilities in Western and South Western Sydney, the two are not mutually exclusive,” she said.

She said the Powerhouse is important for innovation and creativity in the Ultimo, Pyrmont and Chippendale precinct.

“The City sees the Powerhouse as an integral part of the cultural ribbon we identified in ‘Sustainable Sydney 2030,” she said.

The sale would see the Museum move from its current Ultimo site to Parramatta.

President of Ultimo Public School Janine Barrett said “It’s not that we object to Western Sydney having Arts and Culture, we just don’t see why we need to lose our fantastic institution just for the sake of high rise development.”

The Powerhouse, which first opened to the public in 1888, is Sydney’s second oldest cultural institution after the Australian Museum.

Independent MP Alex Greenwich acknowledged that while it was important to share cultural assets with Western Sydney, the Powerhouse was too iconic to lose from the CBD.

“We need to retain this iconic asset in such an important part of Sydney. We don’t want the site redeveloped for developer gain and loss to public amenity,” he said.

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