There's overwhelming support for the proposal to create a world-class regional museum in the Illawarra from two of Wollongong's most influential people of the past 50 years.

As reported exclusively in The Illawarra Flame, last month a proposal was unveiled to create a Museum of People and Industry (MPI) with the preferred site on surplus reclaimed industrial land next to the Port Kembla Steelworks.

Leading that project is the chair of the Migration Heritage Project, Franca Facci, who says there's nothing like it in Australia and it would provide the biggest boost for tourism in the region ever.

Supporting her call for a visionary project of grand scale and vision are two of the region's elder statesmen, Professor Ken McKinnon, AO, and Harold Hanson, AM. While now in their 90s, they lack none of the passion and enthusiasm for the city that they possessed when helping shape Wollongong and the Illawarra region over many decades.

Ken McKinnon was the University of Wollongong's second vice chancellor and during his term (1981-1995) he was largely credited with leading the university's rapid development, from a college serving the steel industry to a modern university with world-class research facilities. Earlier this year, he and his wife Sue, a UOW alumni, gifted the university $5 million to support research fellowships in perpetuity. It remains one of the largest gifts in UOW's history and it followed a $1.3 million 'no strings attached' gift in 2016 to foster innovation and excellence.

As a young man, Harold Hanson established one of the region's most reputable law firms and was an alderman on Wollongong City Council from 1969-79. Once elected, he set about championing the creation of a city and regional art gallery, which he said had been a major oversight. One of Harold's proudest achievements was the opening of the gallery in the former Wollongong town hall. Harold's vision and energy saw him elected as chair of Tourism Wollongong, a board member of Tourism NSW, a director of IMB and the foundation chair of Wollongong City Art Gallery.

The missing link in our cultural landscape

Harold says he can see many parallels between the desperate need for a regional art gallery many decades ago and what he sees as the missing link in the Illawarra's cultural landscape right now. Their plan would bring together a number of cultural facilities in the same precinct.

Harold and Ken say there's no competition between their proposal for an all-inclusive Wollongong Community, Cultural and Heritage Centre and Franca Facci's Museum of People and Industry. Their preference is for a Wollongong city location but they believe the two projects could work together 'hand in glove' if given a chance.

The vision for the Community, Cultural and Heritage Centre is to: "Provide a creative hub for the region, providing access to a range of innovative world-class cultural and community experiences, and showcasing the richness of the city's past, present, and future."

Ken McKinnon is surprised the Illawarra is without a significant museum and cultural precinct. 

"Over the years I’ve  travelled around the world quite a bit and this is the only city of this size that doesn’t have a significant museum in its cultural precinct," he said. "Every place I’ve seen with a population of around 300,000, or much less, has a significant public building which tells the story of that place. If we can get this museum project up and running it would change the city forever. We're the third city of NSW but you wouldn’t think so," Ken said. "And we have a great story to tell."

"It’s a hell of a story; Wollongong’s migration story. This country has been built on migration, and we are such a big part of it. This is where that story should be told," Harold added.

Like the Museum of People and Industry concept, their vision was pitched to the previous Wollongong City Council with no success. Ken and Harold's concept would bring together a multitude of existing cultural facilities that have been opened and operated in a piecemeal approach over time.

"To start, we need to identify the best site options and assess their suitability," Harold said.

The biggest project to enhance our reputation

"We put it to Council that this project would be the biggest thing they could do to enhance the reputation of our Wollongong community," Ken said."One of our problems is that Wollongong has never been able to attract large amounts of government money for projects like this, unlike places like Newcastle and Geelong.

"Other than sporting events, it feels Wollongong has little to promote to attract visitors. Most people who come to watch or play sport are in and out on the same day," he said. "We’ve got to concentrate on larger projects that will give visitors something to see and encourage them to stay.

"We met with Council, but unfortunately the previous Council appeared to lack vision and ambition. No reason was given for why they wouldn’t offer their support. The project really can’t go forward without some level of support from our Council... and the need to demonstrate courage."

Harold said Councils of the past were more proactive in seeking support for new initiatives. "Unfortunately the previous Council appeared to be looking inward, not outward."

"Council doesn’t have someone on staff whose job is to go out of the city to attract people and investment here. The council is the number one citizen for our city and state and federal governments will take more notice of our council if it's energetic, active and ambitious."

Glimmer of hope from new Lord Mayor 

With the change of the guard at city hall – a new Lord Mayor and eight new councillors – there may be a glimmer of hope, with guarded support in principle from Cr Tania Brown.

"I support the concept of a regional museum, but it would require significant philanthropic or government support to proceed, and there needs to be a consensus from the community on what the museum would represent," the Lord Mayor said.

In their earlier pitch to the Council, Ken and Harold called on it to establish an advisory group of potential stakeholders to help build a robust business case. They're hoping the new Lord Mayor will make this happen in 2025 to help move the concept to the next stage.

"There has been so much additional rate revenue from all the units and apartments being developed here over the years but there's no sign of any of those funds being invested in a big city building project like this one," Ken said. 

"This project has so much going for it. It needs a completely new approach from Council, getting a motivated team together to help shape the project and give it every chance of success," Harold said.

Ken and Harold said they'd be happy to pitch again to the new Council early in the new year and play whatever role they can to bring the project to fruition.