Inside the walls of the historic Child and Family Services Ballarat building is more than 150 years worth of memories.
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Historic photos of children spanning eras of Ballarat’s past illuminate the walls of the transformed basement at CAFS head office in Lydiard Street. The new CAFS Legacy and Research Centre pays tribute to thousands of children who spent the first years of their life inside Ballarat orphanages.
CAFS chief executive Allan Joy said the $1.5 million project had been years in the making and provides a connection to the past for the city’s children who grew up in care.
“There is no doubt it will be confronting for some but there were many people who had extremely positive experiences in care as well,” he said. “A lot of these kids didn’t have a family, they only had the orphanage.”
“For many of them, the other children who were in care with them became their brothers and sisters and they have remained in touch years after they’ve left the orphanage.This is all about giving them all a place to belong and a place where they connect with their history.”
He said the centre will also be used by PHD students from Federation University who will research issues including family violence, educational outcomes for children in care and best practice parenting.
“It’s not just about the past, it’s about the present and the future,” he said.
The centre will also provide resources to curate temporary and permanent exhibitions both in the space and through an online platform to increase the understanding of CAFS’s history.
Taking pride of place inside, is a historic stained glass window from the original orphanage at Victoria Street.
Earlier this week, CAFS was awarded a gong at the annual Ballarat Heritage Awards for the category of Conservation of a Heritage Place, Historic Collection or Tradition. It won the award for the Arthur Kenny Avenue of Honour Recreation in Fortune Street, Ballarat East. Mr Kenny, was superintendent of Ballarat Orphanage during World War One.
The new legacy and research centre will be open to the public on Saturday for Ballarat Heritage weekend. Ballarat’s CAFS is at 115 Lydiard Street North.
