The move of irreplaceable historic object from Ultimo will see them damaged or stored out of public view. The proposed building at Parramatta is not suitable as a museum, exhibition space inadequate and not high enough.
Flood prone and not hermetically suitable for fragile objects.
The demolition of the award winning buildings in Ultimo is universally abhorred. our world respected Museum destroyed for a government land grab is unthinkable. The cost of the move at B$1.4 a despicable waste.

The power house museum is supposed to display humanities past, present and future and is supposed to represent innovation and inspiration. What an inspiration it would be to integrate, encompass or even showcase these buildings within the power house... now that would be powerful!
I'm a designer and I do not believe for one minute that this is not possible or even achievable. Find a better architect or simply make it a mandatory requirement to keep these buildings.
Greatness isn't achieved by doing something because it is easier, on the contrary it is achieved by accomplishing something through hard endeavour. An architectural icon isn't achieved through conception alone, it achieved through the endeavor of design.
Demolishing our heritage buildings must stop here and now! Get out of the way and do the right thing not the easy thing.

I object to the closing of the much loved Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo. I have been a frequent visitor since I was a child and would like to continue to take my children there. Please do not demolish this heritage building. Please keep the museum in Ultimo. Parramatta is too far for my family to take a day trip. There should be two Powerhouse Museums.

I hereby object to the proposed "Powerhouse Parramatta" project, for the following reasons:

Cost: The original cost to "relocate" the museum to Parramatta was announced by then NSW Premier Mike Baird to be in the order of $100-200M. The projected costs are now closer to $2B, and likely to be far greater knowing the present government's track record in delivering projects within budget. Proceeds of sale of the Ultimo site will not come close to the "relocation" costs, and patronage at the museum in Parramatta would certainly be less than the existing Ultimo site. From a financial point of the view, the museum relocation is a gigantic stinker -- and a massive slap in the face to NSW taxpayers.

Planning: There could not possibly be a worse site for a museum than the proposed site. It is a flood prone riverbank which has flooded as recently as earlier this year. The proposed museum is therefore effectively designed on "stilts", making it near impossible to move large exhibits into the museum. The latest is that $500,000 would have to spent on a crane, just to lift the train into the museum! The present museum had a railway running right up the museum! There is not even a single parking spaces nor a loading zone at the proposed museum. What a joke!

Space: The proposed museum will be substantially smaller than the present museum. Recent analysis by Museum Expert Kylie Winkworth suggests that climate controlled exhibition space at the proposed Parramtta museum will be 86% less than at the current Ultimo site. In short, the proposed museum was never going to be a museum at all, but rather, it's all about cafes and bars, apartments, commercial hire space for conferences, concerts and events, a cinema, and almost anything else you can imagine EXCEPT a museum!

Attached is my detailed Objection to the Proposal of MAAS Parramatta

I object to the project, the Powerhouse Museum should remain in Ultimo and new museum should be created in Parramatta

The Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo is one of the iconic museums of the world. It is unique in demonstrating how technology, engineering, science and design have impacted Australia and the world. It is recognised worldwide for the magnificent layout and collection. With origins dating back to 1879, moving to Harris street Ultimo, then in 1978, Premier Neville Wran announced that the decrepit Ultimo Power Station, several hundred metres north of the Harris Street site had been earmarked as the museum's new permanent home along with the adjoining former Ultimo Tram Depot. A wonderful museum opened in 1988, in time for Australia's Bicentenary and has been attracting Australian and overseas visitors in their millions ever since.

With half a million items available for display, this museum should stay where it is. The huge objects - locomotives, steam engines, aircraft should not be moved. Many of the displays are fragile, and would be damaged if moved.

To move this museum and its collection anywhere else is beyond reasonable thought.

To move it to a flood prone riverbank in Parramatta, destroying two of the most beautiful and culturally valuable buildings in the city is nothing more than vandalism.

I do not believe that a complete case has been presented to the public on the matter of the site planned for the "Powerhouse Parramatta" move. The destruction of Willow Grove and the St George Terraces is unbelievable, and shows an insensitive and vandalous attitude on the part of the state government and the local council.

I have been a resident of the Parramatta for 40 years. Whilst in Merrylands, Dundas and North Rocks I have enjoyed the historical sites of Parramatta as a young person, right through to my retirement. Countless hours of enjoying the wonderful places (many now gone) in my city, The Memorial Swimming Pool is gone, the hotels have gone, the trees have gone. Real history is being destroyed to make way for plastic and glass high rise, a light rail that the public did not want, and now a set of milk crates forming a conference centre and movable displays, called a museum.

The impact of losing our history and the sense of the character of Parramatta have not been properly studied. The Environmental Impact Study lacks any empathy towards the feelings of the locals. Our sense of place in this city and this country are being ignored for a project that is opaque and hides the reasons for the move in the first place.

Our willow Grove and St Georges Terraces are rare examples of architecture that no longer exist in our city. They must be preserved for our future generations.

The reasons behind the move of a beautiful and functional museum must be made public, and any monetary contracts must be made visible. There seems to be a great deal of detail that nobody in government or council are willing to speak about.

I ask that the Powerhouse Museum be left operational in Ultimo, and that if Parramatta is to get a museum, it should be our own, and be where we want it to be built.

I object to the project firstly in its direct destruction of sites of cultural and historical significance at Parramatta. I further object to the sell-off of publicly owned land at 500 Harris Street, which has been a place of significant experiences and memories for generations of my family.

I further am disappointed that the destruction of the Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo is to occur well in advance of the construction of the Parramatta version resulting in many children, families, visitors being robbed of the opportunity to visit a museum celebrating the progress of Australian society.

Even if the two sites cannot be saved from destruction, it is sensible to have the museum ready to receive the artefacts from Ultimo (by completion of the Parramatta site) prior to the closure of the current museum.

Any other order is illogical, and a planning failure unless there is an ulterior motive of the NSW Government.

I request that the Government desist from its planned closure of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo until such time as they can demonstrate its plans for that site and show how exhibitions will be saved from the historical dump (such as the iconic Wiggles Exhibition which celebrates a home-grown icon).

Yours sincerely

Phil Grindley

I think it is a big waste of money.
The old powerhouse is a great place, quirky, intimate, a place to explore and be amazed by.
For the amount of money being spent on the project, the existing location could be provided with the most fabulous updates for a hundred years.
Also I object to the demolition of the heritage buildings already on the Parramatta site. It is completely unnecessary.
Please simply stop this project entirely.
Thanks
Chris Thompson.