No gift articles left<\/p>\n
You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n
Close<\/p>\n
AAA<\/p>\n
The Herald charts the ups and downs of the creation of Sydney\u2019s newest cultural institution. See all stories.<\/a><\/p>\n The stars have never aligned for the Powerhouse Parramatta. From the start it was controversial. The backlash began almost as soon as premier Mike Baird announced his plans in 2015 to create a new cultural landmark by selling off the Powerhouse Museum\u2019s Ultimo site and moving the institution\u2019s headquarters to Sydney\u2019s geographical heartland.<\/p>\n An attempt to nudge our city\u2019s cultural centre of gravity westwards, while raising a handy $200 million to help pay for it, became a protracted dispute between the government, Ultimo locals and museum lovers, incensed at the Coalition\u2019s zero-sum approach to raising Parramatta\u2019s cultural capital and the deconstruction of a functioning facility.<\/p>\n Five years later, Baird\u2019s successor Gladys Berejiklian cut her political losses (but increased the cost to the state\u2019s coffers), deciding to keep the existing museum but also build a new cultural beacon on the banks of the Parramatta River, foregoing the multimillion-dollar payday expected from the sell-off of prime inner city real estate.<\/p>\n Fears that the Parramatta site was a flood risk prompted a parliamentary inquiry (one of two into the development), while friends of the historic 1880s Willow Grove house campaigned, unsuccessfully<\/a>, to save it from being dismantled to make way for the new glass-and-steel structure.<\/p>\n Now, after a fraught decade, and a near $1 billion spend, the Powerhouse Parramatta is open to the public. But what should have been a triumphant moment is instead an awkward one. The woman whose vision is at the heart of this 21st-century reimagining of a museum was absent from any of the celebrations. In August, the museum\u2019s chief executive, Lisa Havilah suddenly stepped down<\/a> pending a procurement and governance investigation.<\/p>\n Related Article Late last week came news<\/a> the museum\u2019s board of trustees had referred a $2 million marketing contract<\/a>, awarded in February, to the Independent Commission against Corruption. The allegations against Havilah remain untested and she strongly denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n A string of stories has led to questions about spending priorities under her leadership. Celebrity chef Kylie Kwong landed a $440,000 new \u201cambassador\u201d role<\/a> with the museum soon after another $2.6 million program engaging creative identities as museum \u201cassociates\u201d was canned. A film documenting the construction<\/a> of the museum was expected to cost up to $1.9 million while a $1.5 million culinary archive project<\/a> is yet to materialise.<\/p>\n Thirty studio residences to be used by visiting artists, built at a cost of $3 million, will remain unopened. The expense of providing the management, housekeeping and security necessary to run them placed in the too-hard basket after Havilah\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n Treasury is yet to approve an operating budget for the museum. Its running costs were projected to be $145 million (as opposed to $69 million for the Australian Museum and $68 million for the Art Gallery of NSW). Treasury will be looking to trim that figure substantially. Doubts remain over whether projected earnings from gift shops and other commercial ventures will meet an optimistic $50 million contribution to expenditure. Staff fear job cuts are on the way.<\/p>\n![\"Much](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/13c22e36e242dd443576c9af15a554c4b9c80fc2.jpeg\")
Much is riding on whether the city embraces it new major attraction.Steven Siewert<\/p>\n![\"Powerhouse](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/f08193b4445dbba118001ce142db61677363893f1f716a7d2e49f504bd79a46d.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Powerhouse](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/1794085818_32_5e214b456c814bd288cc429fd6002422ecc922a508d1b0d13f4c5bf6afba7119.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n