Powerhouse Museum to stay in Ultimo, Parramatta to receive separate museum

THE Powerhouse Museum will not be coming to Parramatta in its entirety, with one well-placed State Government source confirming “the planes, trains and automobiles” will not make the journey.

Parramatta won't be receiving the complete Powerhouse Museum, but government sources say the suburb will receive another museum like the Smithsonian in the US.

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The Powerhouse Museum will not be coming to Parramatta in its entirety, with one well-placed State Government source confirming “the planes, trains and automobiles” will not make the journey to Parramatta as promised by former premier Mike Baird.

Since Gladys Berejiklian took over the reins as Premier, rumours have swirled about what shape exactly the new planned museum would take in Parramatta.

But now sources have told the Advertiser the new museum will cost $400 million, will contain the bulk of the Powerhouse exhibits, but not those large ones which cost too much to move, and the museum will definitely go on the site of the old David Jones carpark, across the river from Riverside Theatres.

And in what one source calls “a sweetener” to keep Parramatta Council happy, $100 million will be handed over from the state to the council for a major renovation and expansion of the Riverside Theatres.

Riverside Theatres will receive an upgrade in lieu of the museum heading to Parramatta.

While such a project at Riverside has been on the drawing board for some time, council CEO Greg Dyer said several months ago that would wait until the Powerhouse move was confirmed.

Ms Berejiklian has bowed to considerable pressure from supporters of the Ultimo-based Powerhouse to halt the move.

The planned Parramatta museum is the linchpin of the council’s cultural discussion paper, which sets out a plan to redevelop Riverside Theatres and grow the city’s events and festivals program.

Mr Dyer previously told the Advertiser that if the Powerhouse did not come to Parramatta lock stock and barrel, it would not work.

There will also be a name change from the mooted Museum of Applied Arts and Science (MAAS) to something more along the lines of the globally renowned US museum the Smithsonian, a position the new Parramatta museum hopes to emulate.

Could Parramatta have its own Guggenheim Museum? A government source says the museum will be a stand alone icon in the city.

It might not be the Powerhouse, but Parramatta could see something similar to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum will be western Sydney’s museum, though it will not carry that name, and the idea of another satellite museum in Penrith has been firmly ruled out.

A final business case decision is due to be made next month when the projected costs of moving exhibits will also be revealed by the government. Previous costings for the move have ranged from $400 million to a staggering $2 billion.