Powerhouse Parramatta: NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association oppose Willow Grove demolition
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association has urged the State Government to stop being “hell bent on stripping away history” of a former maternity hospital to make way for the $645 million Powerhouse Museum at Parramatta.
Parramatta
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The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association is joining the campaign to oppose the Powerhouse Museum at Parramatta in an effort to save heritage-listed Willow Grove that was formerly used as a maternity hospital.
The union converged on the site with the CFMEU NSW, which in June placed a green ban on demolishing the 1870s property and neighbouring St George’s Terrace, which will face the State Government’s wrecking ball if the museum is built there.
The 19th century villa Willow Grove, an iconic former maternity hospital, and neighbouring St George’s Terrace, built in 1881, are slated for the wrecking ball as part of the Berejiklian Government can build the $645 million Powerhouse Museum.
NSWNMA assistant general secretary Judith Kiejda said the planned demolition of the two sites was devastating for the Parramatta community and the colonial history of maternity services.
“Western Sydney is rich with heritage, yet the Berejiklian Government appears hell bent on stripping that history away and burying it under a multi-million dollar monument,” Ms Kiejda said.
Instead of prioritising hard hat and high-vis ribbon cutting opportunities, the government should be preserving these properties and their historical significance for future generations.’’
Ms Kiejda labelled the Parramatta Light Rail “enough of a circus for the nearby Female Factory Precinct and efforts to obtain its World Heritage listing”.
“We won’t stand by and watch Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace go under a bulldozer without a fight.”
The union did not make a formal submission objecting to the museum at Phillip St, Parramatta, but North Parramatta Residents’ Action Group has welcomed the nurses’ support which highlighted Willow Grove’s history.
“Willow Grove is an exceptionally important part of history of women’s health care at the most important time in their lives, as they give birth,’’ NPRAG spokeswoman Suzette Meade said.
“Since the CFMEU announced their green ban in July against the demolition we have been swamped with support from all over the state. From people that were either themselves, or their parents, born inside the walls of the 150-year-old Italianate villa – Willow Grove. People are disgusted at the disrespectful treatment of our Australian heritage.”
Willow Grove was initially built by Parramatta businesswoman Annie Gallagher, the wife of prominent Parramatta councillor Thomas Gallagher, and was a maternity hospital from 1919 to the late 1950s.
“To now have the NSWNMA endorse and support the campaign to preserve these buildings along with the CFMEU; has just increased the drive and passion for community and heritage supporters from all over Sydney to win the battle to save Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace,’’ Ms Meade said.