Powerhouse Parramatta opening LIVE updates: Sydney’s new $915m cultural institution opens doors to the world

9.06am‘We will never forget’: Banners protesting museum openBy Linda MorrisBanners declaring the Powerhouse Parramatta “not a museum” and “Vale Willow Grove” have been hung over the riverbank opposite the Powerhouse to protest the loss of Willow Grove, a rare example of a riverside 19th-century villa, which was demolished in 2021 despite protests and marches.Suzette Meade, one of the lead organisers against the Powerhouse, said she wasn’t surprised to see the banners go up.Powerhouse Parramatta is “not a museum”, a protest banner unfurled says.Audrey Richardson“Five years after the demolition of Willow Grove, the community’s blood still boils over this project. The NSW government underestimated the damage it caused, the disrespect it showed and how deeply it disenfranchised the people of Parramatta. We will never forget.”Remnant parts of the villa have since been used for restoration of another heritage building on the Parramatta River. A seven-metre tall bronze sculpture, created by British Indian artist Bharti Kher, now stands where Willow Grove stood.8.45amWhat you need to know about your visit todayBy Linda Morris and Anthony SegaertThe museum is open today from 10am to 5pm, and most of the venue is free to enter without a ticket. You do need a ticket for some parts of the opening festival and one special exhibit, though: Task Eternal, a large exhibit on the history of humanity’s attempts to fly. Powerhouse staff tell us they’re expecting a few queues.Once the opening festival is over, the museum’s hours have been confirmed to be 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The museum’s only late-night opening will be Fridays, operating from 10am to 9pm.The museum’s original business case – and the plan championed by its now-suspended chief executive Lisa Havilah – envisioned Powerhouse Parramatta operating seven days a week from 9am to 9pm. These extended hours were considered central to driving western Sydney’s nightlife and reaching the museum’s ambitious target of 2 million annual visitors. However, they impose a cost for staff and security and present a logistical challenge with the interaction of public exhibition visitors and attendees of private events. Bringing the museum into line with other cultural institutions was one of several measures contemplated by NSW Treasury to rein in the museum’s operational model. It’s hard not to conclude that it’s another hammer blow to Havilah’s vision.8.25amIn the beginning...By “The Powerhouse Parramatta may be a billion-dollar mega-project, but its origins remain steeped in political folklore,” says arts writer Linda Morris, who has covered the twists and turns of this mammoth project since its inception. What that inception was, exactly, remains debated:“To some of its fiercest critics, the plan to rebuild a century-old cultural institution dedicated to applied arts and sciences on the banks of the Parramatta River began as a back-of-the-napkin ‘thought bubble’ – reputedly egged along by a campfire chat between former Museum of Contemporary Art director Liz Ann Macgregor and then-premier Mike Baird during an overnight charity walk.”“In her newly released memoir, The Power of the Real, reflecting on cultural policy, philanthropy, and public access, Macgregor puts that rumour to rest. The idea, she maintains, did not spring from campsite musings and was not hers.“Rather, it emerged organically from years of discussions among western Sydney arts leaders before finding its way into an official infrastructure strategy update recommending the government ‘urgently consider relocation of the Powerhouse Museum to the Parramatta Cultural Precinct’.8.11amThe big day is hereBy Good morning. It’s Saturday, November 7, which means that after more than a decade in the making, today Powerhouse Parramatta opens its doors to the public.Workers have been streaming into the “milk-crate” building since the early hours of this morning (I’ve even spotted some last-minute window cleaning taking place).The doors open to the public at 10am. There’ll be an official opening just beforehand. Stay with us for developments across the day.Hours before opening, the Powerhouse Parramatta is ready for visitors.Audrey Richardson1 of 1