Parramatta Powerhouse ‘could change the course of history’: Berejiklian

Advocates for the museum’s relocation, like Gladys Berejiklian, are buoyed by its prospects and say it can “change the course of history”.

Not just a tourist drawcard and a cultural landmark, the new Parramatta Powerhouse museum has the potential to change history, no less.

Despite opposition to moving the museum from inner-city Ultimo, the state government last month finally received approval to deliver the new facility to the west.

And Premier Gladys Berejiklian was buoyed by its prospects, saying it can “change the course of history”.

And while detractors continue to argue over its design and location, politicians and thought-leaders of the west have heaped praise upon the project they say will help Parramatta’s transformation into a “great city”.

Serhan Sadiq Gandhi, 4, and Ariana Bousimon, 5, playing with robots, at the Parramatta Powerhouse Community Space. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin, said he had “absolutely no doubt” the largest investment in NSW arts and culture since the Sydney Opera House would revolutionise the west’s cultural offering.

“Most people don’t have an appreciation of the impact it’ll have,” Mr Harwin,

“It will be NSW’s largest museum and I think it could be the largest in Australia.”

According to the Arts Minister, the new facility will put Parramatta on level pegging with capital cities across Australia.

“Most people don’t even realise this – the centre of Parramatta as a city in its own right is already larger than Hobart, Darwin and Canberra,” he said.

“It’s incredibly important it not just be this place where there are offices and apartments – it needs to have arts and culture, and this museum is going to be the flagship for that.”

His vision was backed by Ms Berejiklian, who told the Telegraph the new museum would “inspire generations of young people”.

“Why shouldn’t Western Sydney be home to one of the most significant cultural institutions of our time?” she said.

“It will inspire generations of young people to study science and technology and make breakthrough discoveries which can change the course of history.”

Lisa Havilah. Picture Renee Nowytarger

It’s the latest boon for a hyper-charged Parramatta, which has already seen billions of investment pumped into light rail and Metro Rail projects, while the spark of the $3.2b Parramatta Square urban renewal plan will see the face of Sydney’s second CBD take shape.

Lisa Havilah similarly agrees the museum will have a “generational impact” on Western Sydney, as well as wider New South Wales.

That commitment was underlined, she said, by an on-site academy and accommodation tailored for school trips from regional areas, with up to 10,000 kids from the bush expected to pass through the site each year.

In her view, the Powerhouse has the potential to be the “cultural anchor” for the west which will help usher in new installations across the region.

“For Western Sydney it’s really important that arts and culture are embedded in that urban growth,” she said.

Long-time advocate of the Powerhouse move, Chris Brown, said while Western Sydney kids were once inspired by rugby league premierships of the Parramatta and Penrith teams of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the museum would usher in a new level of aspiration.

“Great cities need great buildings,” the founding chair of think-tank the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue told the Telegraph.

“It’s a statement to the kids in western Sydney whose parents and grandparents who parents have been paying taxes for Sydney’s cultural institutions for decades – now they’ve got one among them.”

“It’ll be the crowning glory of Parramatta – on top of the light rail and the Metro Rail, Parramatta Square and Bankwest Stadium.”

Mr Brown posed the question, “why stop at the Powerhouse?”

He outlined a vision for the world’s “biggest and best” Indigenous art gallery making a home in Parramatta.

“It’s another leading cultural institution for the region,” he said.

“Let’s get cracking.”

Originally published as Parramatta Powerhouse ‘could change the course of history’: Berejiklian