3 minute read
Osborne Park Association Inc
Osborne House Open Day celebrating 150th anniversary of the property. One of the many Osborne Park Association events over the years: a children’s farmyard.
Christmas Carols on the lawns.
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High Tea in the Mansion.
Cheryl Scott
2013 Centenary of the RANC.
Makers and Growers market.
Osborne Park Association envisages iconic tourism drawcard
The Osborne Park Association (OPA), founded in 1999, is an umbrella group representing approximately two thousand members of a broad cross-section of community groups, each holding a relationship with Osborne House and its surrounding lands.
The group aims to retain the property in community ownership, preserve and publicly present the history of Osborne Park, and maintain and enhance the buildings that provide essential social and cultural history for the Geelong area.
President of the Osborne Park Association, Cheryl Scott, said that the group remained committed to ensuring that the property is permanently open for public use and accessible to all community members.
“The Osborne Park Precinct provides a real opportunity to exhibit aspects of Geelong’s history in an iconic waterfront setting. Geelong does not have a traditional broad-spectrum museum and Osborne Park, established in 1858, provides the unique possibility for retelling aspects of Geelong’s development through this property’s pastoral, social, civic, naval and military history.” Cheryl also said the Geelong Naval and Maritime Museum, established at Osborne House and stables in the 1980s, played an integral role in presenting the naval, maritime and port history of Geelong to the public. “Osborne House can create an iconic drawcard for Geelong, just as Sovereign Hill and its associated gold stories and venues are for Ballarat,” Cheryl said.
“The impending port for the Spirit of Tasmania will provide an opportunity to enhance a sustainable future and Osborne House, the stables and lands will become a widely known and well-regarded thriving Geelong destination.”
Cheryl said her group acknowledged the necessity for a commercial return on the property but that it could not occur at the expense of the community. “The true potential of the Osborne House site will be realised when economic benefits are balanced with community outcomes, social benefits, employment possibilities and tourism potential for the City of Greater Geelong,” Cheryl said. The OPA submits that any reorientation of Osborne House must be in line with the Lovell Chen Conservation Management Plan that requires restoration and refurbishment of the property and grounds. “The OPA has presented many workable concepts for an arts/ heritage precinct at Osborne House and lands. The outlines fit with the City of Greater Geelong’s Clever and Creative Future concept, and we have offered ideas for the interpretation of the Muirhead mansion, the landscaped grounds and the naval collection,” said Cheryl. Articulating the importance of public spaces and a daily calendar of events/activities the OPA has stated that more than 40,000 visitors have attended events hosted by the organisation during its tenancy from 2010 to 2017. The many members of all the groups represented by the organisation have put innumerable hours into the upkeep of the building and landscaping its gardens. “A public/private partnership must acknowledge that access to this site is a privilege bestowed by the community that owns the property. The community has first rights over this public asset,” said Cheryl. “The group does not envisage the property as a ‘neighbourhood house’ but a facility that offers affordable spaces to as many groups as could be accommodated, governed by a management system and a full-time property manager to facilitate the bookings and act as a conduit in the public / private partnership.” For the Osborne Park Association’s complete response, click here.
