The iconic Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo will close its doors on 5 February 2024 for the next three years to undergo a $250 million facelift, but the community is worried that the museum may never reopen.

The NSW Government announced its revised plans in December 2023 including concept imagery, which it says will provide a new outdoor public square, more indoor exhibition space while maintaining the heritage facades of the original power station built in 1899.

However, a handful of community groups remain concerned that the three-year timeframe will come and go without the project being completed, leaving the Ultimo Powerhouse Museum to languish.

Three community groups, the Save the Powerhouse Campaign, Pyrmont Action Inc/ and Friend of Ultimo, have published a petition that calls for NSW Minister for the Arts John Graham to keep the museum open and leave the permanent exhibitions on display until a “Heritage Revitalisation” project is developed in full and is ready to be implemented.

Museum and heritage consultant Kylie Winkworth detailed her reasons for being sceptical of the NSW Government’s plans for the Powerhouse Museum in a letter titled “Labor’s Ten Broken Promises on the Powerhouse Museum, and More”.

Firstly, Kylie pointed to a statement from Minister Graham stating that the Labor Government will keep the Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo open, which was contradicted in December 2023 when Minister Graham announced that the museum would indeed be closed.

Next, the latest plans for the Powerhouse Museum says the government has committed $250 million for heritage revitalisation. However, the NSW Labor Government’s budget states expenditure over the next four years at just $119 million. 

The former Liberal NSW Government allocated $481 million to revitalise the museum, while Labor said the remaining $230 million balance would pay for a new school and hospital projects.

While the announcement states that the museum will be closed for two to three years, the NSW Government’s budget papers state the project won’t be completed until 2033.

When asked how the project would be funded, a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade said that he NSW Government would fund the $250 million project.

“As per Budget Paper 3, the Infrastructure Statement, the NSW Government is funding this $250 million project. The temporary closure of the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo is expected to be for up to three years – from 2024 to 2027 – to complete the heritage revitalisation.”

You can read the full Budget Papers here.