D-Day Looming for Ballarat's MADE

Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka

With the Ballarat Council preparing to decide the fate of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (MADE), it may be instructive to look back at the somewhat chequered history of MADE and, in its earlier incarnation, the Eureka Centre.

In the early1990s Ballarat had double-digit unemployment and the local civic leaders were considering a range of projects to boost economic activity and create much-needed jobs. The lack of an interpretive centre at the site of the Eureka Stockade was identified as one such project that, if addressed, could boost economic activity and enhance the tourism offer in Ballarat.

Importantly, there was also recognition that Eureka was a significant contributor to Ballarat’s and the nation’s history and that the story should be better honoured and celebrated in the city where it took place.

A funding submission with concept drawings for a Eureka Interpretive Centre was taken to Canberra and presented to various key Ministers and the then Prime Minister Paul Keating. Their response at the time was not encouraging.

In part this was because the waters in Ballarat had become rather muddied by heated debates over the actual site of the stockade and whether the Eureka Flag should be relocated from the Art Gallery to a new centre.  This level of contention and noisy community division served to undermine initial efforts to attract government support.

To deal with the stockade site issue, the Ballarat Council lodged a successful submission to have a wider Eureka Stockade Historic Precinct, which incorporated all possible sites, listed on the Register of the National Estate.  And, in an effort to bring all of the various Eureka interest groups and key players to the one table, the Eureka Stockade Memorial Trust was formed.

With the election of the Kennett Government in Victoria in 1992 and the introduction of the Community Support Fund (CSF), a new possible source of funding was identified. This resulted in a successful application under the CSF and the Council initiating a design competition for a new building to house a Eureka Interpretive Centre.

Out of several short-listed proposals, it was the design submitted by Cox Sanderson architects, with its iconic Eureka Flag sail, that was adopted and construction got underway in 1996. 

The original Eureka Centre captured by Peter Kervarec

The Council gave Sovereign Hill Historical Park Association the responsibility for managing the Eureka Centre, which was formally opened in 1998 by Premier Kennett. However, insufficient funds in the original budget to meet cost overruns meant that Sovereign Hill ended up paying for some of the internal fit-out.

After operating the centre for over three years Sovereign Hill found it had become a significant financial burden and negotiated handing back the centre to the Council. Compensation for expenditure incurred by Sovereign Hill was agreed upon and the Eureka Centre then became a business unit of Council, like the Art Gallery or Her Majesty’s Theatre, and a Director (Ron Egeberg) was appointed to manage the centre.

Both during Sovereign Hill’s stewardship and under the Council, even with the best efforts, the Eureka Centre failed to attract a satisfactory level of visitation.  Despite the praise heaped upon the striking and monumental quality of the building, there was a widespread view that the content, particularly the static and unengaging nature of the interpretive displays, fell short of contemporary expectations. This led the Council to conclude that the Eureka Centre needed a revamp.  

After the relative success of 2004’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, which had attracted substantial State Government funding, the Council determined that an overhaul of the Eureka Centre had now become a major priority.

Following intense lobbying from the Council’s then Chief Executive Officer (Richard Hancock) and the Eureka Centre Director, the then Premier Steve Bracks agreed to commit $5 million for a Eureka Centre revamp as one of the Labor Government’s policies for Ballarat if re-elected in 2006.

I recall the ambition at the time was for the revamp to focus the 'Eureka Story' in a broader context of the development of our Australian democracy, provide for temporary exhibition and research spaces, ensure that displays would be more interactive and engaging and provide sufficient funding for creative minds to come up with a 'wow factor’ that would put the Eureka Centre on the must see list of Ballarat attractions. 

Following Labor’s return to government, the commitment was honoured and also matched with a further $5 million by the Federal Government and a Council contribution of $1.1 million.  With the funds locked in, the Council engaged a firm of consultants (Lateral Projects) led by Katherine Armstrong to manage the project.

I am unclear what internal process led to Lateral Project’s engagement or the level of guidance or direction they were given as they implemented their ambitious plans for the Eureka Centre and its re-emergence as the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka.

But, in order to satisfy the government funding conditions, the Council adopted a business plan for the revamped centre which projected, quite unrealistically as should have been obvious at the time, that visitor numbers would build from 120,000 per year to ultimately approach Sovereign Hill levels.

What motivated Lateral Projects, with the Council’s obvious agreement, to engage new architects to effectively “deconstruct” and re-orient the existing Eureka Centre building, thus losing not only the strong sense of arrival but also all of the building’s symbolic and iconic qualities, remains a mystery to me. Particularly when the alternative was to work with the original architects, who would have been able to extend their existing building to provide the necessary additional floor space and allow for an internal re-configuration. I am convinced this would have achieved considerable savings that could then have been directed towards content and perhaps achieved that elusive ‘wow factor’.

By the time building got underway there had been a change of Government in Victoria. In its new guise, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka was finally officially opened by Premier Denis Napthine in 2013. The Council had already decided MADE would operate at arms length and a voluntary board of directors, initially under the leadership of Professor David Battersby, the then Vice Chancellor of Federation University, was appointed to oversee the museum’s management and to employ staff.

Now, five years on, the Council has reviewed MADE’s performance and is poised to consider its future. This should not be undertaken lightly.  MADE is a Council responsibility. It was the Council that sought government funding for the revamp and engaged the consultants to undertake this work. It was the Council that accepted the overly ambitious business plan and ultimately, for better or worse, agreed to what is now the clumsily named, I think, Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka.

In making its decision, the Council needs to acknowledge that, despite the many challenges, the management and staff have worked with great diligence, enthusiasm and a strong sense of belief to ensure the success of MADE. This is reflected positively in that annual visitation is now in excess of 60,000 people, education programs for schools are strongly supported and well received and two highly praised major exhibitions – Bling and Chinese Fortunes - have been held.  

In a crowded and highly competitive tourism market, Eureka is one of Ballarat’s major points of difference. It used to feature strongly in Ballarat’s tourism marketing strategy. One of the valid criticisms of MADE is that the ‘Eureka Story’ is somewhat lost in the myriad of displays and interactive screens. It should be front and centre of the visitor experience and I understand the current board and staff have plans to rectify this.

My advice to the Council is don’t risk doing serious reputational damage to Ballarat’s standing as a major tourism destination by abandoning such an important part of our history and unique heritage. Instead give the management and staff the time and support they need to refocus on the Eureka story. It is not a time for half-baked compromises.

Build on the bipartisan support that the Eureka Centre/MADE has received from successive Liberal and Labor Governments in Victoria and intensify efforts to attract further government support. And lastly, consider re-instating the Eureka Flag sail over the building and, please, change the name to the Eureka Stockade Museum.