Was this a final acknowledgement that we had overstretched?

Sadly, that site has seen many missteps over the century and a half since 1854.

First, there was the memorial consisting of four ex-naval cannons from the Cerberus — a wonderful piece of irrelevance. Then we added a caravan park and swimming pool to a historic site — a questionable assault on our unique history by our civic fathers.

Then came an interpretive centre with a diorama explaining the story. It wasn't bad. It was funded by service clubs.

It was small though effective, but it was vandalised several times and the civic fathers shrugged it off.

In the mid-80s, a replica of part of the stockade was built. This cross between a children's playground and a bull ring was funded by the city.

Fortunately, it did not last long despite the extensive use of decidedly non-historic pressure-treated pine.

Several people with a genuine interest in Eureka started a push for a new interpretive centre. This was led by Peter Tobin and Peter Davies (sadly both deceased) who garnered considerable financial support across the Ballarat community and the Kennett government made it happen.

The budget, including fit-out, was just short of $5 million.

A prize-winning design by Cox Sanderson produced an eye-catching building, with its tall banner providing a ready landmark. It opened in 1998.

Eyecatching as it was, it did not catch the tourists, receiving about 40,000 visitors a year. It did though, provide a focus for community events and further donations produced other memorials like the one to the dog.

The building had maintenance issues, but it should have been possible to keep it going with an annual subsidy from council.

Ten years later came the ultimate misstep. The Cox Sanderson building was trashed, partially subsumed into a major new project. The city resolved to put $2.5 million into a new project to supplement a $10 million grant from the federal government.

Costing $12.5 million, it was rather grandly called a Museum of Australian Democracy, despite the fact that it had no museum collection and we already had such a museum in the Old Parliament House in Canberra.

Given the earlier debacle, there was no attempt to raise public donations. From what I can glean from newspaper reports, the city has spent more than $6 million in operating subsidies since it opened.

Hence, on this site we have spent $23 million of public funds from federal, state and local government, augmented by private donations. To what end?

The story does not end there. The Art Gallery of Ballarat, which held legal custody to the Eureka flag, had steadfastly built up a collection of art works, drawings and maps, around the Eureka theme.

It was very instructive and built a strong school base by sharing education officers with the Cox Sanderson Eureka iteration.

At the gallery, the flag and the collection were presented in a dedicated gallery space opened by Jeff Kennett in 1995.

The collection was enhanced a year later, with the gallery making a major purchase of the sketchbook of a Eureka eyewitness.

The Doudiet sketchbook was acquired for $245,000. The Kennett government provided $100,000; the balance subscribed by the gallery's wonderfully generous supporters.

The Art Gallery of Ballarat is a major adornment for the city in our most historically intact streetscape. It is attracting up to 150,000 visitors a year.

Given all this, why on earth wouldn't you return the Eureka flag to the gallery where it will be secure, it will be seen and treasured?

In the former MADE building, we have a useful asset. It must tell the Eureka story in one section. This could be done in a series of panels and video loops or projections with low-maintenance being the criteria.

The storyline was defined by the committee chaired by Professor Geoffrey Blainey for the 1998 iteration. The rest of the building could be made available to U3A. It has an excellent lecture theatre and meeting rooms. It would then become a vibrant space with traffic to make the coffee shop viable.

The council would be responsible for the salary of an attendant, cleaning and maintenance and, in recompense for the site, U3A could establish a roster to provide volunteer guides for the display area.

Peter Hiscock, former CEO of Sovereign Hill, chaired Ballarat Tourism Board at the time of the 1998 version and was a board member of the Art Gallery of Ballarat during the MADE negotiations on lending the flag.