A GROUP of veteran seafarers wants the historic Wickham School of Arts building to be turned into a home for Newcastle's maritime museum.
"I think this is the ideal building and position for the maritime museum," said Fred Krausert, a retired seafarer and the national president of the Veterans' Association of the Maritime Union of Australia.
"I think it's fantastic. It's everything we want.
"It's in the right place, it's got the parking, the facilities, you've got the train station, you've got the buses, and you've got the sea. We've got to fight for this."
But there has already been a fight for a maritime museum, especially its new location.
The city's maritime museum on the waterfront at Honeysuckle shut in 2018, after it was evicted from the Lee Wharf building, which is being redeveloped. Since then, the museum's collection has been in storage.
For veteran seafarers, the thought of Newcastle's maritime history being out of sight infuriates them.
"I think that's a disgrace," said 91-year-old John "Tich" James, who cruised in and out of Newcastle Harbour for more than 40 years from 1950. "We've got nothing."
Mr James said many years ago, MUA members were asked by a museum representative to donate items to the collection, and many did.
"We all put stuff in there, and now it's in a shed somewhere," he said.
Fred Krausert said for Newcastle to have no maritime museum was "embarrassing" and "shameful".
"I'm just angry, totally angry about it," Mr Krausert said.
"Because this is ridiculous. This is the biggest coal port in the world, and those people on the ships come here and they want to know what's been going on here in the past."
At a meeting this week, the MUA Veterans' Association members resolved to "call upon all political sectors to support the establishment of a maritime museum for the City of Newcastle and the region".
The former Wickham School of Arts building, which is currently unused, is owned by the NSW government's Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation (HCCDC).
Dating to 1882, the building with the ornate facade is renowned for being where a young Henry Lawson would read and plan for a future in words when he was briefly working in Newcastle.
However, this reminder of one of Australia's best-known poets, and of Newcastle's past, stands in the midst of plans for the site's future, with this final parcel of harbourside land in Honeysuckle to be developed.
HCCDC has undertaken repair work on the building, "allowing it to be repurposed as part of a future development", according to a spokesperson. How the building will be used is yet to be determined.
The three-hectare parcel is being offered by expressions of interest.
"We are asking developers to incorporate the building into their proposals, provide adaptive reuse and run a design competition for the inclusion of public space adjacent to the former Wickham School of Arts building," a HCCDC spokesperson said.
"Any development proposals not considering adaptive reuse would need to demonstrate superior outcomes and explain how they will address the heritage value of the building.
"Any type of future use of the former Wickham School of Arts building will be considered as part of the assessment of the expression of interest (EOI) proposals and how well they deliver on the project vision and objectives. The top concepts will progress to a final design stage later this year and the winning proponent is expected to be announced mid-2023."
The state Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp has called for an assurance that the building will be protected as part of any development.
While he did not comment about the MUA veterans' proposal, Mr Crakanthorp said his current priority was "keeping the wrecking ball away" from the building.
"Unfortunately, despite significant preservation works being undertaken, we are yet to receive that ironclad guarantee that the Wickham School of Arts will be saved," he said.
"There's been a lot of interest in both preserving this history and an adaptive reuse, so I'm very much looking forward to working with community groups once we've got this site secured once and for all."
Since 2018, when the Honeysuckle facility closed, there has been debate between the former Newcastle Maritime Museum Society president Bob Cook and Newcastle City Council about the museum's future.
The society has been dissolved recently and a new entity, Hunter Maritime Heritage Association Inc, formed, with Mr Cook as its interim president.
Bob Cook said many people had identified the former School of Arts building as a possible home for a museum, but he believed nothing would happen there until the overall development of the site was determined.
"It's a good idea, but it's not going to happen, in my view," he said.
Mr Cook also doubted the building's floor space was big enough to display the collection. He indicated there would soon be talks to find a more suitable spot for a maritime museum.
"We're working on a better result," Mr Cook said, but he would not say where the site was.
"But anywhere that can get the collection seen in the meantime is a stepping stone towards something else.
"Fred and his team are on the right track, and they're 100 per cent right that we need a museum."
Fred Krausert said he was not interested in past controversies and debates over the museum.
"We're not here to step on anyone's feet, we're here to push it along, so that it happens," Mr Krausert said.
"And those people who don't want to go down that road, well, get the hell out of the way, so we can get the thing done."
Glen Williams, the branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, backed the veterans' call.
"We need to find a home for that collection, and there should be a stand-alone museum," Mr Williams said.
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