MUSEUM PLAN REVEALED
A MAJOR military museum and war veteran employment project slated for Toowoomba has reached its first milestone, after the council endorsed the plan.
The Veterans First Military Museum Project, a community-led plan to honour the region’s military and also re-skill returned servicemen and women, will be able to establish an ambitious museum along the Toowoomba escarpment near Spring Bluff, just outside Highfields.
The museum and surrounding site could potentially cost up to $70 million to build, with organisers looking to the Federal Government for the funding.
The councillors voted yesterday to enter into a lease agreement with the project on the land, which was bought by the TRC in 2018 and banked for future development.
Councillors were glowing in their endorsements of the project, with Mayor Paul Antonio calling it the perfect location for the museum.
Toowoomba businessman Bernie Baz, who is one of the key driving forces behind the project, said he was thrilled that the council was behind it.
“This is a critical step — the first thing the Federal Government needs is to know the local community is behind it,” he said.
“It sends a clear message to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison that Toowoomba will step up to support the
Federal Government.”
Along with recognising and preserving the region’s military history, Mr Baz said the project would employ between 4000 and 5000 veterans over the course of several decades through running tours, managing the surrounding gardens and eventually working with the council on the region’s wider parks network.
“What we’ve done is we’ve blended a need for regional tourism and a need for veterans rehabilitation into the one project,” he said.
“The parks and gardens around the museum is the first step, but then you’d look at other parks and gardens projects, like the Quarry Gardens.”
Mr Baz called on the Federal Government to fund a business case into the museum.
“We’ve had high-level funding modelling done, and that was independently audited,” he said.