Ballarat Now and Into the Future: Sovereign Hill plans to open new entry, exhibition building by 2026 Commonwealth Games

The groups included the City of Ballarat, Committee for Ballarat, Commerce Ballarat, Federation University and ACU, Central Highlands Water, Grampians Health, Sovereign Hill, and Ballarat Regional Tourism.

Some of the projects have received funding already, or election promises, but with early voting set to open on November 14, The Courier is checking in on why these projects are so important to the city.

THE BIG SIX

Among the six priority projects is Sovereign Hill's masterplan phase 1b, which is hoped to be completed by the start of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The masterplan includes a new entry and orientation building named the Gold Pavilion, a new exhibition space and more classrooms for the Sovereign Hill School.

Sovereign Hill Museums Association chief executive officer Sara Quon said the multifaceted nature of the new spaces would potentially have strong economic, social, cultural and educational impacts.

"We predict over the 20 years of the masterplan that our education visitation to the site will grow from about 110,000 school visits to over 275,000 school visits through that time," Ms Quon said.

"That's phenomenal growth in terms of social impact of students over a really broad variety of ages coming and engaging with the curriculum in a really immersive environment that the outdoor museum is but also giving them new education spaces to be able to expand and diversify our program."

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ms Quon said children who visited Sovereign Hill from across Australia developed a lifelong connection to Ballarat and this gave them a generation positivity to return as adults in the future.

She said another aspect of the masterplan important to Ballarat residents was celebrating the city's cultural heritage.

"Sovereign Hill cares for over 150,000 collection objects on behalf of the Ballarat community and they're really diverse stories that are told by that collection. It's a really rich collection that celebrates the Australian-Chinese connection in terms of the goldrush, gold and miners' rights," Ms Quon said.

She said the new building and exhibition space would allow Sovereign Hill to share the collection with more people by bringing it closer to the outdoor museum, which would "substantially increase the number of members of our community and public that get to see and engage and benefit from that collection we have".

The project's economic benefits - especially in the post-pandemic economic recovery of Ballarat, western Victoria and Victoria - will see funds flowing into businesses that work with Sovereign Hill, including accommodation, hospitality, supermarkets and security.

Ms Quon said it was a Ballarat project, but believed it was an important state-wide tourism project to encourage people to come out of Melbourne and visit regional towns.

"It's so critical for a community like Ballarat that we are investing in social infrastructure, education and health, and that we are also making sure that there is strong government investment in the economic reality of our community, making sure there is job creation and prosperity," Ms Quon said.

"This project for us is an anchor for Ballarat in terms of growing the visitor economy and tourism in Ballarat as a whole and Sovereign Hill is a vehicle to do that. The economic modelling around it is really strong. By 2025 we estimate it will have created an additional 100 jobs and by 2040 over 150 jobs.

"It's stimulating that job creation in town but also new reasons for visitors to visit Ballarat, ideally to stay the night and to engage and visit other parts of our city and our region."

Ms Quon said it was hoped the project would have potential to be delivered by the 2026 Commonwealth Games, of which Ballarat is a major host.

"We believe at Sovereign Hill that if visitors come to the Commonwealth Games for that 12 day period, they need to experience the sense of Ballarat that will make them go home and advocate and drive visitation for many years to come. We have seen that happen really strongly in other destinations that have hosted the Commonwealth Games, that the legacy of visitation and the economic benefit and prosperity brings to the community is often after the games and the years that follow," she said.

"The best possible visitor experience that our community can give to visitors through that time to make them all leave as advocates for coming back to Ballarat is really critical. For us having this new building and experience in terms of the new exhibition in place for the Commonwealth Games would really mean it is a launching pad for people to go out and talk about the phenomenal things that are happening in Ballarat and to understand that there is such innovation and creativity going on in this community and to really stand for the heritage aspects of what we celebrate but also the modernity and evolution of what Ballarat is celebrating."

In January, the Liberal Nationals promised $27.3 million toward the project if it wins November's state election and in October, the coalition pledged a share in a $10 million business election event attraction fund.

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