POTENTIAL THREAT TO COBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM AND HQ
Coburg Historical Society Inc. (CHS) understands that City of Moreland Councillors will soon be asked to vote on whether or not to sell vacant land near the municipal offices on Bell Street. This land includes the ‘Bluestone Cottage’ located at 82 Bell Street (listed on the Victorian Heritage Register No. H0689) that houses CHS’s museum.
A vote is said to be scheduled for the Council Meeting of Wednesday, 11 August.
CHS strongly opposes putting the Cottage into private ownership. The house is the only remaining bluestone dwelling located on Bell Street close to the former Pentridge Goal (the buildings of which are also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register). It remains an important building in the context of early European settlement of the Coburg area and its use should be appropriate to its significance. CHS holds a collection of irreplaceable objects and documents in three buildings – in the Cottage itself, an external kitchen behind the Cottage, and the Gordon Perlstein Annex – a former garage located behind the two heritage structures. Many Moreland residents past and present have visited the cottage, including school students.
In CHS’s opinion:
- Moreland City Council should retain that part of the land on which the Cottage is situated
- The site should continue to function as CHS’s home and museum
- The Cottage and its detached kitchen should be restored and used as an interpretive centre
- To further improve the museum’s use by the public, a new storage, exhibition and archive building should be constructed adjacent to the cottage.
Please send a message to Moreland Councillors supporting the retention (and future restoration) of the Cottage complex by the Council with continued occupation and custodianship by Coburg Historical Society.
East ward Councillors (in which the cottage is located)
Mayor Cr Annalivia Carli Hannan; ACarliHannan@moreland.vic.gov.au;
Cr Helen Pavlidis; HPavlidism@moreland.vic.gov.au
Cr Sue Bolton; SBolton@moreland.vic.gov.au
Cr Adam Pulford; APulford@moreland.vic.gov.au
Committee of Management
Coburg Historical Society