Fremantle History Centre's future secured

The City of Fremantle has decided on a location for the Fremantle History Centre.

The Centre will remain in the Wanjoo Lounge on the ground floor of the Walyalup Civic Centre, where it's been temporarily housed for the past six months.

The City of Fremantle announced its decision after reviewing the results of a community survey in which 76% of people said they wanted it to stay where it was, 15% suggested the Fremantle Town Hall and nine per cent preferred somewhere else in Fremantle.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the decision gives certainty to the History Centre.

"The stories of the City will now be celebrated, conserved and displayed in their own dedicated and accessible space.

"With the Visitor Centre next door, I expect there will be many visitors keen to learn more about the history of Fremantle who will take advantage of the close proximity," Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

Fremantle Deputy Mayor and Deputy Chair of the State Library of WA, Jenny Archibald said the collection was a valuable resource.

"The collection is extremely rich and contains Aboriginal history, culture and heritage as well as the early days of European settlement right through to the present day."

Minor works will now commence to transform the Wanjoo Lounge into a dedicated space for history research and events.

The centre will contain new shelving, research desks, a scanning and copying station and display areas.

Local History Librarian Stewart Alger said that some 900 boxes will be brought out of storage, containing photographs, reports, oral histories, maps and books.

"Having 75% of our collection readily available for people to use is a great outcome. Currently it's a four-day turnaround to access information stored off-site. This will really improve the user experience.

"The remaining 25% of the collection will be stored elsewhere, as it requires climate-controlled settings for rare, precious and delicate items, but can be viewed by arrangement with the City,” Mr Alger said.

The City received 172 submissions during the public engagement period with the majority (70%) of input from Fremantle and East Fremantle residents.

Most respondents (89%) said it was extremely important to have access to a physical collection to view, study, research and connect with. 

Many acknowledged that digital access to the collection is also important, with the City already in the process of digitising its records.

The History Centre will be open to the public on weekdays from 9am to 1pm and by appointment on those days from 1pm to 4pm.

"Afternoons will be dedicated to our digitisation project, being undertaken by a team of nine volunteers, to make the collection accessible to a wider audience, eventually through a new local history website," Mr Alger said.

Last year the History Centre had 1,563 enquiries.

The Centre will be officially opened at the conclusion of the fit out in late April.

For more information about the Fremantle History Centre visit fremantle.wa.gov.au/fremantle-history-centre

Image: The Wanjoo Lounge at the Walyalup Civic Centre.