Newcastle Maritime Collection Finds New Home

BY IAN CROUCH

After being placed in storage for several months, more than 7000 items from the Newcastle Maritime Museum are about to be dusted off and prepared for a new home.

The Maritime Museum was forced to close in May due to mounting debts.

The collection, including a 200-year-old painting and a 12 metre, 6 tonne boat, have been held in secure storage since then.

It's now been confirmed they'll go back on exhibition early next year at the Newcastle Museum.

The Former Maritime Museum Site At Honeysuckle

Newcastle Maritime Museum Set To Close

BY IAN CROUCH

Newcastle's iconic Maritime Museum will close its doors for the final time tomorrow.

Members of the Maritime Museum Society voted to wind-up operations yesterday due to the mounting cost of running the museum and a lack of volunteers.

Museum Society President, Ian Jones said that although the decision to close the Museum was regrettable, it's the right course of action.

"Ultimately, the prohibitive cost of running the Museum, coupled with the fact the Museum heavily relied on volunteers and donations, made it impossible to continue to operate in a sustainable manner," he said.

Newcastle City Council and the Hunter Development Corporation are working to preserve the city's maritime history, with the Newcastle Museum likely to inherit the NMMS collection.

Originally located at Fort Scratchley, the Newcastle Maritime Museum has been collecting interesting artifacts since 1972, exploring the rich maritime history of Newcastle and the Hunter River from early European settlement to the present day.

The museum has occupied it's current location on the foreshore at Honeysuckle for a decade - there's no word yet on what will become of the heritage-listed building which is owned by the Hunter Development Corporation.

Newcastle's Maritime Museum Is Closing Down Picture: msnsw.org.au

State Heritage Funding For Nobbys Lighthouse and Maritime Museum

BY NIKOLA JOKANOVIC

The Nobbys Headland and Lighthouse and the Newcastle Maritime Museum are two of a number of heritage sites to receive grants under the state government's Heritage Near Me Activation Grants Program.

The Nobbys Headland and Lighthouse will enjoy a $39,000 grant, while the Maritime Museum will be granted $64,820, for a total of a little over $100,000.

At the Headland the grant will go to the Newcastle Business Improvement Association, who will plan for income generation and re-investment, define important themes and activation options, and plan interpretive spaces and attractions on the Headland.

At the Maritime Museum the grant will benefit the Re-Animation project, with a 360-degree, 3D virtual reality exhibit which they hope will draw younger generations to the heritage site.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald, who announced the grants on Monday the 9th of October, said there are a number of goals in mind: preserving these important heritage sites, drawing local communities back to their past through the sites, and involving local owners and businesses in the process.

"This funding doesn't only mean we can invest in protecting and preserving out local heritage but it means we're giving more people the opportunity to appreciate their local history," Mr. MacDonald said.

"These grants acknowledge and support the vital role owners and managers of locally listed heritage items play in protecting our local heritage."

The grant program was designed to allow local governments, businesses and community organisations to preserve and reactivate their local heritage items, opening them up to the community.

"This funding will help communities build on the knowledge the have with their heritage," said Heritage Minister Gabrielle Upton.

"No one knows their heritage better than the locals who live and breathe it."

$39,000 will be put toward drawing business and the community back to the Nobbys Headland and Lighthouse.
Image: Newcastle Herald