Nothing off the table in Warrnambool's Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum revamp

It's just one idea that has been flagged to bring more adventure back to the tourist icon as a study into the future use of the city council site gets under way in a bid to reverse its fortunes.

A bumper holiday season this summer has brought record number of visitors through the doors of Flagstaff Hill.

The city council's new visitor economy manager Paul Thompson said that in the four days from Boxing Day there had been 1248 people visit the museum during the day, and 431 at night.

He said capacity for its night-time sound and light show had been increased by 20 per cent due to demand, and shows were mostly selling out every night.

The number of people using the Visitor Information Centre, located inside the museum gift shop, was 4046.

"The numbers through Flagstaff Hill are very strong, they are back to better-than-expected and greater than pre-COVID times," Mr Thompson said. The gift shop had also been doing well, he said.

Mr Thompson said visitors were being surveyed about what they thought about Flagstaff Hill with feedback forming part of the $120,000 study into the site's future.

In September, councillors gave the go-ahead for a business case and masterplan on the museum's future direction. It came after years of debate about the facility's drain on council's finances.

In early February, community consultation would be carried as part of the study with the report going back to council in May or June.

"It's a very far-reaching study," Mr Thompson said.

"We really want to get everyone's feedback on where they see Flagstaff Hill."

He said the end result would be a 20- to 40-year development plan.

"It's not just window-dressing the existing product. It could be changing the whole thing to something better," Mr Thompson said.

Ideas about how to reinvigorate the museum were up for discussion which could include bringing back a larger boat to the wharf area, or even a tree-top adventure-style attraction.

"Everything's an option. The maritime aspect of it is lost without a boat there," Mr Thompson said.

He said the first few weeks he had been in the job he started researching how much it would cost to get a boat back in the museum.

"A themed-aerial activity like a high ropes course but themed on the Loch Ard - that sort of thing would suit that location," Mr Thompson said.

"It's what being a sailor in the 1850s to 1950s was all about. It was an adventure every day of your lives.

"It is such a great location and iconic location of Warrnambool. Everything's up for grabs. It's all just on the table really.

"It's a community asset that people are passionate about it. Let's make it bigger and better for Warrnambool."

Mr Thompson said they would then look at the business case for each option and see which one is going to be best.

New activities have been added to the list of things to do at Flagstaff Hill this summer with the key ones being "meet the curator" or "hang out with a boat builder" alongside the traditional historical games.

Mr Thompson said the tourist attraction was very much a museum and, under legislation, they were obliged to look after artefacts and buildings and keep them to a certain standard.

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.