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A new Museum for Western Australia

A new world-class museum for Western Australia will be built on the site of the former East Perth Power Station.

Costing $500 million, the project will be a major cultural and social institution telling the stories of Western Australia and its people.

Premier Alan Carpenter announced the new museum saying it was a unique opportunity to build a museum for the 21st century portraying the State’s rich history, Indigenous heritage and unique environment.

“The museum will be a window to the whole of WA and have the power to capture the imagination of us all,” the Premier said.

“We will be able to present the stories of our Aboriginal people alongside stories of WA’s sporting greats, inventors, rural families and leaders in the fields of medicine, teaching and mining.

The museum will also showcase WA’s diverse natural environment and the work of the WA Museum’s talented team of scientists who have collectively discovered more than a thousand new species, including 47 new species of animals over the past year.

Planning and design begins this year, with construction expected to begin in 2012. The project is expected to be completed in late 2015.

The East Perth site was one of more than 16 considered by a Steering Committee formed in 2005 by the Minister for Culture and the Arts. The Committee included museum experts, City of Perth staff, architects, planners Department of Treasury and Finance, Museum Trustees and Indigenous representatives.

Outgoing Western Australian Museum chief executive officer Dr Dawn Casey said Western Australians could look forward to having one of the best museums in the nation and one which was on a par with the best contemporary museums around the world.

Dr Casey moves to Sydney next month to take up her new position as CEO of the Powerhouse Museum.

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