A new era for the Landsborough museum

At the request of the Landsborough and District Historical Society, Sunshine Coast Council will now manage one of the largest community museums in South East Queensland, including its collection of more than 14,000 objects.

The Landsborough and District Historical Society has operated the Landsborough museum since 1976 and managed its collection in the former Landsborough Shire Council Chambers – a council-owned, State heritage listed building.

Due to the ever increasing challenge of attracting a volunteer base, with the demanding skills and experience now required to manage the financial obligations of caring for the collection and running the museum of the scope and scale of Landsborough, the society has asked council to take over the reins.

Council agreed to take on the responsibility at today’s (November 10) Ordinary Meeting, noting the significance of the museum and its collection to the region’s history.

Council will now begin the formal process of taking ownership and developing a strategic plan to map the future of the museum and its collection – a process council expects to completed by early-2022.

Sunshine Coast Council Community Portfolio Councillor Rick Baberowski said that while he was pleased council could step in, the call for help from the Historical Society showed the enormous pressure volunteer groups faced.

“The Landsborough and District Historical Society has given 45 years of dedicated service to help preserve and, most importantly, share some this region’s heritage and this is no small feat,” Cr Baberowski said.

“I’d like to sincerely thank the society and all past and present members who gave their time, effort and energy to this endeavour.

“In mid-2020 and again in 2021, the society wrote to council to make known they were struggling and requested assistance to manage the museum and its collection.

“Over the past two years we’ve been working with the society to find ways to support them, but unfortunately the struggles remain.

“It is therefore with gratitude and some sadness that council accepts the gift of the entire Landsborough museum collection into the region’s Cultural Heritage collection and has agreed to take over the management of the Landsborough Museum from 2022.”

Sunshine Coast Council Coordinator of Heritage Services Peter Connell said preserving this collection and ensuring the continuity of this council owned building as a museum was critical to the region’s heritage.

“The museum is a key component of a planned heritage precinct in the Landsborough Placemaking Master Plan, 2020 and can now continue to fulfill its function as planned,” Mr Connell said.

“Additionally, the collection can stay intact, preserving a key period of our region’s heritage.”

The museum’s management and the collection will be funded by the Sunshine Coast Heritage Levy.

The Heritage Levy, charged to every rateable property in the region, is used to document, research, conserve, protect, promote and provide access to those tangible and intangible items, places, facilities and events that define the stories, history and values of the people, communities and culture of the Sunshine Coast.