THE Western Australian Museum has become the latest organisation to make a play for the old East Perth Power Station site, hiring HW & Associates for $22,000 to put together a cost planning feasibility study.
THE Western Australian Museum has become the latest organisation to make a play for the old East Perth Power Station site, hiring HW & Associates for $22,000 to put together a cost planning feasibility study.
The museum is one of several parties to have shown interest in the derelict Western Power site in recent years.
A spokeswoman for the WA Museum said it had been invited to consider the power station and was also considering redeveloping its cultural centre site.
“We’re in the process of deciding what we would like in a museum and how it would interact with the public,” she said.
“We have no specific sites in mind.”
A move by the WA Museum to the power station site would need to fit into the East Perth Redevelopment Authority master plan for the area.
A draft version of that plan is due for release in September.
It is understood part of that plan will involve the redevelopment of a parcel of land, reportedly worth $15 million, around the power station site.
Besides the WA Museum there have been several other indications of interest in the East Perth property. In 2003, WA billionaire Kerry Stokes indicated he was interested in spending $60 million to turn the disused site into an art complex to house his manuscript and art collection, which is valued at more than $100 million.
In return, he wanted freehold title to the Western Power site and another piece of land owned by EPRA.
Another proposal was received from entrepreneur and car enthusiast Peter Briggs, who showed interest in turning the site into a transport museum to house more than 100 antique cars, a Lancaster bomber, a restored Catalina seaplane and a replica 1920s railway station.
Other recommendations included the National Trust’s proposal to turn the site into a cultural centre, and a plan to move the Scitech Discovery Centre there.
An EPRA spokeswoman said the authority was yet to decide on which proposal it would back for the power station site.
The WA Museum has been forced to look for a new home since asbestos was discovered in its Francis Street building.
The building is now closed to the public and work is under way to relocate museum staff not directly involved with its displays to an interim facility at Kew Street, Welshpool.
Part of the museum’s marine display, which used to be housed on the top floor of the Francis Street building, will be put on display in Albany.
The main marine display drawcard – the skeleton of a blue whale – will be moved to the Kew Street facility for conservation work. It has been on show for more than 20 years.
The museum’s Katti Djinoong Aboriginal display, which was also housed in the Francis Street building, will be reopened in early August on the Northbridge site.
Its Northbridge site will remain open until its new home is completed.
