THE NEW community museum taking shape in MacKenzie Street cannot diminish the need for a bigger venue showcasing the region's grand past, according to Bendigo Historical Society's president.
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Euan McGillivray will outline his group's vision for its community museum during a public talk on Friday, along with the city's history with similar institutions.
The society expects to open its museum in a small space at History House in the first half of 2024, Mr McGillivray said.
"I would not want people to be confused and think this effort is in any way, shape or form, a substitute for a grand plan; for a much bigger and better resourced museum some time in the future," he said.
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Bendigo needs a "regional-scale" museum to share the grand civic narratives of the Gold Rush and the development of the city and its cultures, Mr McGillivray said.
"There's a pretty large groundswell of people in Bendigo and elsewhere who really believe this city should have a properly resourced history museum in a bigger venue than ours," he said.
The society's community museum is expected to focus on the personal stories behind the pieces it exhibits.
"It won't really be a museum about the grand narratives of gold mining in Bendigo. It will be true to the ideals of community museums everywhere," Mr McGillivray said.
"And that's to tell personal stories - not smaller stories - but stories of people. We can hint at those grand narratives, of course, but we have potentially thousands of personal stories with our collection items."
The society is looking for an extra $50,000 from benefactors to get everything ready for its community museum, which could open as early as the first half of 2024.
"That's the earliest we could hope for by the time we've done some more fundraising, moved everything from storage, for example," Mr McGillivray said.
"And realistically with a group of volunteers, we have got to pace ourselves properly."
The Bendigo Historical Society meeting will take place at the La Trobe Art Institute, 121 View Street, at 2pm on Friday 14 April. It will be a free event with no bookings required.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
