Powerhouse Museum to move to Parramatta

After months of speculation, Premier Baird has confirmed the Powerhouse Museum will move to Parramatta to boost cultural offerings in Western Sydney.

Exterior of Powerhouse Museum building at Ultimo in Sydney.

The Powerhouse Museum will move from Ultimo to Parramatta to provide Western Sydney with better access to science and technology education.

After months of speculation, Premier Mike Baird made the annoucement today as part of a plan to boost cultural offerings outside of central Sydney.

He would not to commit to a timeframe until all stakeholders had been consulted.

One of the sites mooted is the historic Old Kings School site in Parramatta, presently home to The Heritage Office and Heritage Council of NSW.

The old Kings School (1836-1964) in Parramatta could be home to the Powerhouse Museum.

“Why should cultural facilities just be in the centre of the city?”

NSW Premier Mike Baird. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“Western Sydney deserves it,” Mr Baird said. “We should have a great cultural precinct here and the Powerhouse is expected to be part of it.

“It’s an amazing opportunity and I think it shows we need to think well beyond the CBD of Sydney, we need to spread these opportunities across the city.”

Mr Baird said that in terms of logistics and timeframe, there would need to be further engagement with stakeholders.

The Powerhouse Museum, which has been in its Ultimo location since 1988, houses almost 400,000 objects collected from 1880 until now.

Although often described as a science museum, it has a diverse collection reflecting Australia’s history in decorative arts, technology, communications, transport, costumes, media and space.

The announcement has been welcomed by the Western Sydney Arts and Culture Lobby, which has been pushing for more arts funding for fast-growing region. 

Parramatta MP Geoff Lee and Western Sydney Sydney Business Chamber director David Borger have been pushing for an arts precinct at the Old Kings School.

Currently less than five per cent of arts funding goes to Western Sydney, which is home to 30 per cent of the state’s population.

“Western Sydney is indisputably the home of cultural innovation in Australia and has a rapidly growing and culture hungry audience,” lobby spokesman David Capra said.

“The Old Kings School would be the perfect site and could include exhibition spaces, production spaces, arts education and creative industries.”

The Goggomobil Dart Sports car is part of the Powerhouse Museum‘s extraordinary collection. Picture: Chris McKeen

The museum is renown for its ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions, including Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.

The Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo is in a converted electric tram power station, originally built in 1902.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Scott Lloyd said the move was “an amazing idea, which would bring so much to the kids and parents in the region”.

“We’ve got a University of Western Sydney campus coming to Parramatta, which would sit well alongside a science and technology museum,” Cr Lloyd said.

Cr Lloyd said Parramatta had the transport infrastructure to support a major museum.

“It would service all of Sydney because people could get to and from the museum easily,” he said.

Ultimo has been home to the Powerhouse Museum since 1988.

Western Sydney’s Sydney Business Chamber director David Borger said people of the west deserved a first-class cultural institution.

“By 2021, more people will live in Western Sydney than eastern Sydney.

“The Powerhouse, with its focus on science and design, is more likely to be visited by students than tourists. If the museum is serious about increasing student visitation, then a move to the west makes great sense.”