A maritime cultural precinct for the Douglas Shire
To honour and celebrate our significant and unique maritime heritage, LIPS members and LIPS Maritime Heritage Working Group Members have collaborated with Dr Jo Wills, Senior Museum Development Officer, at Queensland Museum (Tropics) to develop a strategy for a maritime cultural precinct in Port Douglas.
Our Vision
A vibrant waterfront cultural precinct that celebrates, showcases, and sustains the region’s maritime cultures, industries, heritage, and unique world heritage environment.
Our Mission
To preserve and showcase Port Douglas’ evolving maritime history, culture, skills, and identity, and inspire future generations to value, reinvigorate and maintain associated traditions, industry, and environments.
Statement of Purpose
To create a waterfront cultural facility that:
Values, collects, preserves, and showcases Port Douglas’ diverse
maritime cultures, histories, industries, and environment.
Inspires engagement in and understanding of marine environments and activities.
Promotes living history and sustainable marine practices through maritime activities, safety, and industries.
Port Douglas wharves c1907 (Image Credit Port Douglas Historical Society)
(1970) Immigration - Migrants in Employment - Textiles Industry - Austrian develops tourist interest on a disused sugar wharf. Fred Resel, Port Douglas. CREDIT: Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA)
Objectives & strategies to activate the project
Governance
A functional, formalised committee able to make decisions, apply for funding and undertake activities.
Council engagement
Raise awareness and support for the project and its potential within the Douglas Shire Council.
Community engagement
A supportive local community.
First Nations’ engagement
A strong relationship with Traditional Custodians.
A waterfront activity venue
A concept for integrating commercial fishing, marine education facilities, and slipway into a cultural precinct.
A strategic collection
An inspiring, strategic, and informed collection strategy to preserve significant items and stories from the Port Douglas region.
A collection storage facility
A safe, secure storage facility to house collections that can be maintained, cleaned and managed.
Recording maritime stories
A maritime oral history project that records and preserves Port Douglas’ maritime traditions and history.
Developing a display concept
An inspiring curatorial concept for engaging museum displays and that attracts funding.
Grants, sponsorship and funding
Sourcing funding for project and precinct development.