HISTORY COUNCIL ADVOCACY - Museum of WA Sport The History Council has identified that the decision of the Western Australian Government to construct a purpose built sports stadium, presents an overdue opportunity to revive the Museum of Western Australian Sport ( MOWAS ), currently in mothballs (apart from a small display ) at Challenge Stadium. The Museum was established in 1986, when it became obvious to various people, and especially the WA Sports Federation, that some of the State's outstanding sports memorabilia was being lost to galleries and museums in eastern When the Museum opened in 1988 it was funded by a grant of $169 000 provided by the Government via the Ministry for Sport and Recreation. From that point until 1998 funding for MOWAS steadily declined; the Museum, which had been managed by the WA Sports Federation, was then handed to the WA Sports Centre Trust, and since 2002 it has been on 'care and maintenance', without a curator. The History Council contends that the reasons for reviving MOWAS today are the same as those used when it was initiated in the mid-1980s. WA's continuing success in so many professional and amateur sports, the excellent record of our Olympians, and the groundbreaking achievements of sportsmen and women before the 80s - Shirley Strickland, John Winter, Graham McKenzie, Lyn McKenzie and so many others, deserve to be permanently publicised other than by inclusion in the Hall of Champions which, incidentally, should be incorporated into the revived Museum. Before its 'closure' MOWAS was one of Australia's most outstanding small museums, in 1996-7 attracting more than 250,000 people including school groups, and groups from rehabilitation programs and hospitals, as well as members of the public. At different times thematic displays were mounted, for example 'Aborigines in Sport',' Sport: Making Cent$', plus specific displays for the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. In addition, the permanent displays were very popular. The Advocacy position of the History Council is a revived Museum of WA Sport should be established in a purpose built facility incorporated into the new stadium planned for Mueller Park in Subiaco to provide a world class small museum explaining to the people of the state and tourists how, despite its relatively small population, Western Australia has had a remarkable impact on the nation's sporting and cultural life. |