Flag should move to Eureka Centre: report

THE EUREKA flag could be relocated from Ballarat Fine Art Gallery under a renewed push to move it to the Eureka Centre.
A feasibility study into a second stage of development at the centre suggests displaying the flag would add credibility to the attraction.
The suggestion was part of a raft of findings and recommendations generated from a $70,000 study into the future viability of the centre.
The study recommends up to $4.5 million be spent on further development to enhance the attraction and improve patronage.
Other key recommendations include an overhaul of the Eureka Centre's management structure. The report - undertaken by consultants Sinclair Knight Merz - suggests transferring management responsibility from Ballarat City Council to a company limited that would be overseen by a skills-based
board.
The report also found:
* Up to 40,000 people visit the centre each year, but patronage could potentially be doubled.
* Revenue raised through admission fees is insufficient to be reinvested back into the centre.
* Less than one per cent of visitors are local, suggesting the Eureka centre fails to adequately engage with the local public.
* The content of displays is narrow and needs to be broadened.
* Operating costs need to rise 70 per cent to $845,000 per annum.
* Admission prices should rise from $5.80 to $8.85.
An executive summary of the study said the centre had a limited capacity to display collections (such as the Eureka Flag) because it lacked management policies and facilities, such as climate control, to support them.
"The absence of the Eureka Flag from the centre (and its location elsewhere within Ballarat) adds to the perception that it is not a serious institution,” it said.
The findings of the study, which was jointly funded by the council and state and federal governments, will be tabled in a report at a council meeting tonight.
The report recommends that councillors pursue funding opportunities to implement the study's recommendations.
It also acknowledges that moving the Eureka Flag would require broad agreement from stakeholders.
Relocating the flag from the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, where it is currently housed, to the Eureka Centre has long been a topic of contention.
Gallery director Gordon Morrison said he would be willing to discuss the issue if the flag could be housed in museum conditions at the Eureka Centre.
"I welcome any further discussion on the matter and I trust the most important thing, in my opinion, is its long term well-being as an object.”
Eureka Centre director Ron Egeberg declined to comment ahead of tonight's council meeting.