Will Tasmanians ever wake up from their collective Rip Van Winkle sleep and realise what a treasure they have in their old buildings?
I have alluded in the past to the grotesque proposal for a 16-block subdivision in Lenah Valley that will forever destroy the landscape in which Lady Franklin placed her museum and art gallery.
It is a building unique in this country.
Here is the entry from the Companion to Tasmanian History:
The Lady Franklin Museum is a classical temple built by Lady Franklin in 1842, and named Ancanthe, “blooming valley”.
Wife of Lt-Governor Franklin, Lady Franklin was shockedf at Tasmania’s lack of cultural institutions and colonists’ indifference.
She built the temple as a museum and left 400 acres in trust to ensure the continuance of what she hoped would become the focus of the colony’s cultural aspirations.
A century of apathy and forsaken duty by the administrators of the Anglican Church and the city of Hobart followed, with the museum used as an apple shed, among other functions, until in 1949 it was made the home of the Art Society of Tasmania, who rescued the building.
Note the reference to official indifference and apathy. It continues today.
The owner of the land proposed for subdivision is none other than the former Tasmanian Treasurer David Crean.
Hobart council must knock this obscene development on the head.
As to the Heritage Council, on their past performance they’d probably approve conversion of this remarkable little building to a launderette.
