Former Ballarat Orphanage Heritage Interpretation Works
The City of Ballarat is working with a group of former residents and key stakeholders to acknowledge the past.
Since opening as an institution in 1866, the 200 Victoria Street site was at different times known as the Ballarat District Orphan Asylum, Ballarat Orphanage and Ballarat Children’s Home (the Former Orphanage) until its closure in 1983. It then entered a new era as St Paul’s College and then Damascus College, before being recently adapted as a mixed used development.
Project overview
A substantial $500,000 was recently committed by Ballarat City Council for implementation of the project over the next two years, in addition to developer contributions and donated funds, bringing the total project budget to $647,000.
The City of Ballarat supports the working group’s vision to share stories about real experiences from the point of view of its former residents, rather than focusing only on the institution or its buildings.
The stories and experiences of former residents of the Ballarat Orphanage, including members of the Stolen Generations, are coming back into focus. Remembering more than 4,000 children who passed through its doors has been a massive project for the small working group, who are leading the design process for heritage interpretation at the site with the City of Ballarat.
Ballarat Orphanage Interpretive Sites
The designs will create a meaningful experience for the former resident community, their loved ones and those who are interested in the site’s history, but also for visitors and new residents of the development. Responding to how the site functions today, storytelling will be layered so that visitors can choose how deep they wish to dive in and understand.
*Concept designs are nearing finalisation and will be subject to further adjustment as the project progresses.
Project highlights
Interpretation will be located alongside the Orphanage’s remaining historic features:
- Elm Reserve (Toddlers Park)
- Magnolia Reserve
- Entrance to the former Toddlers Block (now an early learning centre)
- Schoolhouse building (now part of the shopping centre redevelopment)
- Stawell Street boundary wall
Project partners
Helping to bring this vision to life are:
- City of Ballarat
- Former Residents
- Child and Family Services Ballarat
- Site developers
- Consulting historians from Ash Tree Projects
- Interpretation designers from GML Heritage
