TOOL TIME: Cr Neil Jones with the council’s collection of historic Cook Park tools, which could be included in the Orange regional museum. Photo: STEVE GOSCH
HISTORIC tools and plaques at Cook Park, the original maps used to plan Orange’s streets and a piece of wooden water pipe dating from 1920 are just some of the thousand items that make up Orange City Council’s historic collection.
But only some of the items will make it into the $7million museum.
Community liaison adviser Alison Russell said the collection was governed by a strict policy and set themes to ensure only the most significant items representing the history of Orange and surrounds were kept.
“The purpose and guidelines of collecting is to enrich the understanding of Orange and district and enhance the sense of place,” she said.
“There are lots of small collecting institutions that I’m hoping may wish to loan their items to the museum for a small period of time, but it will depend on what we’re currently exhibiting.
“We would also like to make sure the items were significant and linked to stories of the region.”
Items in the collection are housed all over Orange in council-owned buildings, including historic Cook Park tools in the Endeavour Room at Bastick Cottage.
Even the original plaques laid at Cook Park in memory of World War One soldiers and other fixtures are considered part of the council’s collection.
Ms Russell said the council also held an extensive civic collection ranging from large-scale plans of Orange’s streets to menus from civic and historical events, historic mayoral robes and photographs.
A recently conserved plan of the Wellwood estate, dating from 1842 and given to the council by Charles Sturt University, is one of the most significant items.
Ms Russell said a statement of significance was written about every object in the council’s collection to assess its worth based on the item’s history and providence, representativeness, rarity, condition and interpretative potential.
“If it doesn’t fit the criteria it’s not worth keeping,” she said.
Ms Russell said the council would be careful not to duplicate what was offered by nearby museums at Millthorpe, Molong and Canowindra when it chose what to include in the museum.
clare.colley@fairfaxmedia.com.au